Bentonville Students Facing Long Week

— Bentonville High School freshman Austin Sisk plans to be in school Saturday. He's not so sure about his classmates.

"It's going to be dead," Austin said. "I've been hearing a lot of kids are going to skip and just make up an excuse."

At A GLANCE

Snow Days

The number of snow days Benton County school districts have had this year and the number of days each district is requesting to be waived by the state Board of Education. Districts must make up at least 10 days. The district, number of snow days and requested waiver days:

• Bentonville: 13, 3

• Decatur: 16, 7

• Gentry: 17, 7

• Gravette: 15, 5

• Pea Ridge: 16, 6

• Rogers: 13, 2

• Siloam Springs: 13, 2

Source: Arkansas Department of Education

Saturday is the first of three days the School District scheduled this month to help make up 13 days lost because of winter weather. Two more makeup days will be March 24 and 25, the Monday and Tuesday of spring break week. Other days will be made up at the end of the year.

Austin said he'd rather go to school now than make up snow days in June because he has other plans during the summer. Jacob Waldrop, another freshman, agreed.

"I'd much rather make it up now," Jacob said.

Galen Havner, human resources director, has worked for the district for 19 years. He said he couldn't remember a time the district has had school on a Saturday.

"We've been told by different administrators who have chatted with the kids that there seems to be quite a few kids planning on coming," Havner said.

It appears most teachers will be showing up Saturday as well. As of Wednesday, the number of teachers who had notified the district they would be absent Saturday was no more than the district gets on any given day, Havner said.

Having school on Saturdays presents complications related to religious events and child custody arrangements, he said.

Athletic events also get in the way. Bentonville is hosting a high school soccer tournament that runs all day Saturday, said Scott Passmore, athletic director. Other kids are attending a track event. The kids participating in those events will have excused absences.

"These were scheduled prior to the makeup dates being set," Passmore said.

Buses will run as normal Saturday.

Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy, a charter school for grades kindergarten through eight in Bentonville, follows the School District's calendar, including its makeup days. Timm Petersen, headmaster, said Saturday will be like any other school day, except kids will be allowed to wear jeans instead of their normal uniforms.

Bentonville isn't the only Northwest Arkansas district having Saturday classes. Springdale had school last Saturday and intends to do it April 5, as well.

Springdale's attendance rate Saturday at the elementary and middle school levels was 91 percent, according to Rick Schaeffer, communications director. Junior high school attendance was 89 percent. High school attendance was 65 percent, but part of that had to do with Springdale High School's boys and girls teams playing in the state basketball tournament in Conway. Two buses full of students traveled to that event, Schaeffer said.

"There were some other activities scheduled involving high school students as well that kept attendance down," Schaeffer wrote in an email.

School districts are required to have 178 school days with 360 minutes of instruction each but can apply to the state for a waiver of any days missed beyond 10.

Bentonville is one of 75 districts, including all seven in Benton County, that have requested weather waivers this year. Bentonville is asking to waive three days. The state Board of Education will consider the waiver requests at its meeting March 20. Districts must show they have exhausted all "reasonable methods" to make up snow days before a waiver request is granted.

If Bentonville's waiver request is granted, the district's last day of school -- barring additional snow days -- will be June 5 for students on the traditional calendar.

The Bentonville School Board is expected to approve a traditional calendar for the 2014-15 school year at its meeting Monday. Administrators are recommending a version that has more dates built in as possible make-up days -- including the first two days of spring break -- than the calendar originally approved for this year.

NW News on 03/13/2014

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