ROGERS — Students in Rogers will attend school until June 6, if there are no more snow days.
There will be no waiver application from Rogers School District to the state and students will not be in school on spring break.
The school calendar had five built-in makeup days and those have been scheduled, the remainder will be made up at the end of the year. The schedule will not change for seniors or graduation, administrators said. Rogers students have missed 11 days this year because of snow and ice.
Additional changes to the calendar would need to be approved by a personnel vote because they change the contracts teachers and staffers signed at the beginning of the year, Roger Hill, assistant superintendent of human resources, said during Tuesday’s School Board meeting.
In an informal survey, 42 percent of teachers said they prefer to add the days to the end of the year, 25 percent favored a combination of Saturdays and spring break, 20 percent favored using spring break and 12 percent favored using only Saturdays, Hill said.
Saturday classes would cost extra because employees would be paid overtime, said Kathy Hanlon, chief financial officer, before the meeting.
At A Glance
Board Action
Rogers’ School Board met Tuesday and approved:
• A $2,367,795 change order for construction at the Annex phase II remodel was approved. The changes will retrofit the roof, add cabling, kitchen equipment, remodel restrooms in the gymnasium used by the wrestling team and square footage for New Technology High School.
• Administrators refinancing a set of 2009 bonds for an estimated savings of $3.3 million. The savings will be paid in a lump sum into next year’s building budget, Kathy Hanlon, chief financial officer, said. The money will be used to pay for construction at New Technology High School.
Source: Staff Report
Because 51 percent of teachers and 51 percent of staff would have to approve a schedule change, a more formal poll was sent out through the School District. It asked both groups if they would prefer to work Monday and Tuesday of spring break and Memorial Day or Memorial Day into the summer. Response was mixed, but the feedback was in favor of working Memorial Day, Hill said.
Teachers were 44 percent in favor of the spring break and Memorial Day option and 35 percent in favor of the end of the year and Memorial Day option with 21 percent who didn’t reply. Staff were 41 percent in favor of the end of the year and Memorial Day option and 33 percent in favor of the end of the year and Memorial Day option with 26 percent who didn’t reply.
Not using part or all of spring break was the deal breaker for a waiver, Hill said. A state waiver would also kick in only after 10 snow days, so Rogers would be eligible for only one day off.
Community members also weighed in on Memorial Day saying it could impact businesses and the start of the lake season, said Janie Darr, superintendent.
If the school year stretches past Memorial Day, state law requires the district to honor the holiday, Hill said.
With no changes, that means student makeup days are Jan. 20, Feb. 17, May 27-30 and June 2-6. They will have Memorial Day off.
“I’m hoping there’s no other snow days in the next two weeks,” Hill said.
Board members talked about adding a clause in next year’s calendar that spring break could be an option for makeup days if there is inclement weather.
“We need to say it on the front end,” said Jerry Carmichael, board president. “To come back and change that game midstream I thought was not fair,” he said.
Next year’s calendar will be presented to the School Board during the March meeting.
Administrators may apply to become a District of Innovation through the Arkansas Department of Education. As a District of Innovation they could apply to waive certain state requirements, such as the starting day of school. With that waiver they could start earlier, Darr said. She told board members she has asked before to be allowed to add minutes to the school day to make up days lost to snow, but was refused.
“Right now we could be adding time to the school day,” Darr said.
The School Board would have to endorse the district’s application.