Rogers Approves Saturday, Spring Break Make-Up Days For Next School Year

— If there are more than 10 snow days next school year Rogers will have school Saturday.

The School Board approved a 2014-15 calendar Tuesday incorporating Saturday and spring break as options for making up days lost to weather.

AT A GLANCE

Land Buy

The Rogers School Board bought 4-acres southeast of Bellview Elementary School on Bellview Road. The $187,000 purchase includes a house that will be removed later. The property is an important because the Pleasant Grove Road extension will cut through the opposite end of school property, said Superintendent Janie Darr. The 4 acres could serve as additional parking or a playground.

Source: Staff Report

Rogers schools, except for Eastside Elementary School, will start Aug. 18 and end May 22. There will be a two-week Christmas break starting Dec. 22. Spring break will be March 23-27.

Spring break will be cut short in Rogers if it snows more than 12 days.

The first six make-up days will be at the end of the school year. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Washington's Birthday will be next, then an additional day at the end of the school year. If school is out longer than 10 days Rogers will have Saturday school Feb. 28 and March 14. If the snow days keep piling up the 12th and 13th snow days will be the first two days of spring break.

The calendar and its approved 13 snow-day schedule doesn't make exception to the way Rogers has scheduled snow days in the past until day 10, said Jerry Carmichael, School Board president.

"I don't think we've ever had a Saturday," Carmichael said.

Teachers were polled for their input and spring break was their last choice for making up days, said Janie Darr, superintendent. Darr asked the board to approve a clause giving the superintendent and board to change the schedule in case of "excessive days missed."

Make-up day discussions this year floated the idea of using spring break, but by then it was too close, Carmichael said after the meeting.

"If there is any possibility that we're going to use spring break we need to spell it out on the front end," he said.

Three years ago students missed 11 days and two days of spring break made it onto the calendar for the next year, said Kari Jo Douglas, cochairwoman of the Personnel Policy Committee. Those two days weren't needed the next year.

The calendar passed the board with one vote against it.

Byron Black, board member, said he wanted to see more make-up days earlier in the year, before testing dates.

Eastside students will start school July 31. Six weeks is the maximum break allowed for schools on a continuous learning calendar, something the district discovered last month.

Rogers has applied for a two-day waiver from the Arkansas Board of Education so they can end school June 6 for students on the traditional calendar.

The waiver, if approved, will also change Eastside's start date to July 29. The continuous calendar will make up days using February and April intersession dates.

NW News on 03/19/2014

Upcoming Events