Snow days piling up, sapping vacations for area schools

Scott City schools superintendent Diann Bradshaw built only one snow day into her 2002-2003 schedule, a plan the first-year superintendent inherited. So far this school year, classes already have been canceled 11 times due to snow. The schools originally were going to get an Easter break and a day off for a teachers meeting March 21. Now, with the exception of Good Friday, Scott City students will be in classes until the extended school year ends May 22.

"It's been a heck of a year," Bradshaw said.

In Missouri, schools are required to be in session 174 days and 1,044 hours each year to keep their state funding.

Missouri provides for forgiving some "inclement weather makeup days" when an unusually large number of days is missed due to snow. But that can happen only when the school has built into its calendar planned makeup days equal to two-thirds of the number of days lost. For Scott City to be forgiven some of its 11 days, it would have had to schedule eight makeup days.

Southeast Missouri schools seem to have logged more snow days than other areas of the state this year, said James Morris, director of public information for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Jefferson City, Mo.

Morris said some schools are facing the dilemma of making up not only snow days but days when school was canceled due to the flu. There is no provision for forgiving flu days. "They must be made up," Morris said.

At Notre Dame Regional High School, principal Brother David Migliorino built three snow days into his schedule for the 2002-2003 school year. The school has used six snow days. The diocese schools had planned to dismiss May 16 but now will let out May 21 if no more snow days occur.

"We're taking it one day at a time," Migliorino said.

'You can't make up lives'

He said most of the area schools canceled classes Monday because temperatures were forecast to remain cold in the morning, not allowing snow on the roads to melt. It did melt, but Migliorino said he has to think about the safety of students who are coming from as far as 40 miles away. "You can always make up days," he said, "but you can't make up lives."

He has talked to his teachers about the makeup burden the snow days have created for students. "I have said, 'Let's not overload the students. Cover the basic needs. We're not shortchanging them, but we don't have to give them 12 term papers,'" he said.

At Jackson, superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson planned for three makeup days. The system has taken eight snow days. Anderson says one day will be made up March 21, which was scheduled as a teachers workshop day. Two more makeups were built into the schools' Easter vacation.

The schools originally were scheduled to dismiss May 23, the Friday before Memorial Day. With board approval, that date has been moved back to May 29, Anderson said. That's hoping that no more snow days are necessary.

Jackson students are eager to get on with school, Anderson said. "Early on, it's 'gee, let's have snow day.' All of a sudden that's not looking so great as it did."

Ready for winter's end

Tom Kiehne, principal of 29-student Saxony Lutheran High School in Cape Girardeau, has the luxury of not having to take into consideration bus safety. He built five makeup days into the schedule and has used only four snow days.

The school is scheduled to be closed from the Thursday before Easter through the Thursday afterward. If more snow days accrue "it would gobble up Easter vacation pretty quickly," he said.

His students don't want any more snow days, Kiehne said. "I sense that they're ready to get on with winter and get into spring."

Cape Girardeau schools have used eight snow days and had no makeup days built into the schedule. Cape Girardeau schools now are scheduled to dismiss June 10.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

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