Dear Key Communicators:
Well, Old Man Winter has sure been making some regular visits to the area. We have missed more days of school due to flooding, snow and ice than we have in many years. It is always hard to make those kinds of decisions. We know that each day we cancel must be made up on a snow make up day or in the summer. This year’s snow make up day will be March 16th. The rest of the days are added on after June 18th, which is already rather late to start with. You may wonder about the process for making these decisions. Typically, our Transportation Director, Ed Engleson, calls me about 4:30 A.M. and we confer as to road conditions. By then, Ed has usually driven around several of the area roads and taken reports from some of his early riser friends. I then check the various weather reports on the internet and see what the forecasts are. We then combine the information we have on the ground, with that of the predicted weather to come, and make a decision that will protect students, and keep school functioning as normally as possible. That is our order of importance; student safety is our first concern. Some times we are right, and in cases like Wednesday this week, we may miss it. In retrospect, we may have been able to get by with a late start that day. All of the forecasts, for that day, called for snow all day until 6 that afternoon. As it turned out, the snow hit about 12 hours late. You just never know. At the end of the day, I’d rather answer to someone being inconvenienced, than answer for a child or employee being injured. So, we err on the side of caution.
As it turns out, there is a state-wide problem with weather related school closures this year. We may be able to dodge the bullet on making these days up in summer. I have included some recent information from Olympia. The upshot is that since the governor declared a state of emergency for flooding in November, and for snow/ice in December, we may be excepted from the 180 day requirement for days this year.
Let’s hope we are able to get a makeup waiver. Otherwise, we may be planning that 4th of July PicnicJ
Sincerely,
Alan Bennett
Superintendent, Naselle Grays-River Valley School District #155
OLYMPIA, Wash. - School districts hard hit by bad-weather closures during an unusually stormy winter may get a reprieve in making up class days, officials in the state school superintendent's office say.
Under an emergency measure that could be announced Friday, school districts could apply for a waiver from having to make up for snow days and other closures on the day of a disaster declaration by Gov. Chris Gregoire and while it remains in force, said Jennifer Priddy, assistant superintendent of public instruction for financial services.
As drafted, the change would amount to an emergency amendment of a statute that requires 180 days of classes a year. Existing rules allow local school officials to request a makeup waiver after losing three consecutive days of classes, but Priddy said approval is rare.
The new rule will likely take effect within 10 days, said Thomas Shapley, a spokesman for the superintendent's office.
"We're filing this because school districts have been hit very, very hard this year because of emergencies," she said. "We're crafting these rules so that students receive the minimum hours of instruction required but so that districts will be allowed the flexibility on the number of days they'll have to make up."
Gregoire declared states of emergency after flooding in November and a windstorm last month. Both declarations remain active.
The Riverview School District, which includes Carnation and Duvall east of Seattle, has lost nine days of classes and the neighboring Snoqualmie Valley School District in Snoqualmie and North Bend eight days so far this school year, with winter less than half over.
Among larger districts, six days have been lost in Bellevue, five each in Kent, Northshore, Edmonds and Issaquah and four days in Seattle and Highline.
"It's been at least 10 years since the district has had to take this many snow days," said Patti Spencer, a Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman.
Classes in many hard-hit Western Washington districts have already been extended into late June. Other typical ways to make up for snow days include holding classes on days that had been reserved for teacher training or other noninstructional work and eliminating or shortening midwinter and spring breaks.
"If we have too much more of this, we're going to have a Fourth of July party in schools," Snohomish Superintendent Bill Mester said.
Tina Zimmer, a mother in Kent, said that with the school year scheduled to run through June 22, she was concerned about the family's annual Independence Day trip.
"I think the worst part about the whole thing is that I think we're heading into July now," Zimmer said. "My kids are still going to get taken out of school at the end of June, no matter what."
Riverview officials already planned to seek a waiver under the old rule, Superintendent Conrad Robertson said, and on Tuesday the School Board voted to hold classes during midwinter break and extend the school year by three days.
"We're a little ahead on the process, but I think we're going to see a record number of waivers being requested this year," Robertson said.
Graduation in the South Whidbey School District been set back from June 9 to June 16 because of five days lost to bad weather.
Issaquah school officials may seek a waiver for high school seniors, who are scheduled to receive their degrees June 18 at Safeco Field in Seattle, but other students would remain in school through June 29 to make up the lost days, district spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said.
"The problem is, once you have it (Safeco Field) booked, it's your only shot at it," Niegowski said. "Graduations are a big deal for families - they plan parties around it, seniors plan trips.
"I even got a call from someone in Germany whose nephew is graduating. He wanted to know if he should change his airline ticket