Area schools add snow days to schedule

The 2002-03 school year may live in infamy among local educators as the winter the snow never stopped falling.

Schools missed as many as 15 days due to winter weather in 2002-03, prompting some districts to build more makeup days into this year's calendar.

The Jackson School District, which had no designated inclement weather makeup days last year, has added four days to this year's calendar. The district canceled classes eight times last winter for snow.

The Cape Girardeau School District had two makeup days in last year's calendar but has five this year. However, superintendent Mark Bowles said the extra days were not prompted by the eight days his district missed last year because of winter weather.

"Every now and then something like that comes along and you just have to deal with it. But we haven't changed anything because of it," he said.

Attendance rates in both Cape Girardeau and Jackson schools saw significant declines last year, but officials there aren't sure how much the missed snow days contributed to that.

In the Meadow Heights School District, where students missed 15 days because of snow last year, superintendent Mike Miller said he's already visiting with bus drivers and making plans for winter weather.

The district has five makeup days built into its calendar this year.

"We've made preparations," Miller said. "When it gets colder, we start to think about it."

cclark@semissourian.com

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