Snowy dilemma: How to make up those lost days

Bourbon County school districts are making plans to figure out how to make up lost time due to the number of snow days used this year. Campuses like Fort Scott High School, shown here, were closed for several days because of extreme cold and snow during the past week.(Ruth Campbell/Tribune)

Excessive snow and cold over the last couple of weeks has forced area districts to close for a number of days and has left them wondering how they will make up the lost time.

USD 234 Superintendent Rick Werling said as of Thursday his district has missed a total of seven days due to bad weather since the school year began, and according to the contract between the district and the Fort Scott Chapter of the Kansas National Education Association, the district does not have to make up the first two snow days. Werling said schools are required to be in session 1,116 hours during the school year.

"Some districts can only look at the hours," Werling said. "We have to look at the negotiated agreement."

Werling said district officials plan to meet with teacher representatives soon to discuss options for making up missed time. Some of those options include adding time at the end of the year, or keeping schools in session on days that they are normally closed, such as in-service days or student holidays.

Other than missed time in the classroom, recent wintry weather has not had any other detrimental effects -- financial or otherwise -- on the district, Werling said.

"We have used our own crews to clean up," he said. "It's instruction time we're all worried about."

USD 235 Superintendent Randy Rockhold said his district has reached its limit for snow days built into the school calendar at the beginning of the year, and will be forced to start making up hours if any more days are missed this school year.

"We've used all our days available," he said. "Any more and we'll have to make it up."

The district has missed six full days since the school started, and began classes two hours late Thursday morning due to extreme cold and some buses running late, Rockhold said.

Winter storms this year have created unusual challenges for district officials and staff.

"We've moved more snow from our parking lots this year than we would in a five-year period," Rockhold said. "It's a pretty big demand on our custodial staff, and a challenge for them, too."

Rockhold said the district has used more equipment and supplies than usual this year to combat the winter weather in order to keep staff and students, as well as school buildings and grounds, safe.

"That's just what it takes to do business," he said. "In extreme cold, it takes a lot to keep buildings warm."

During his nine years as superintendent, Rockhold said district has never missed more than four days due to inclement weather.

During its recent meeting, the USD 235 Board of Education decided that teachers in the district could best determine how to make up time lost due to weather conditions.

"I let the board know at their recent meeting that we're at our limit," he said.

The board also has several options to choose from when considering how to make up the days, one of those being the addition of days onto the end of the school year. With state assessment tests nearing, teachers are the best choice for determining which option is most beneficial for the district, Rockhold said.

District officials and members of the Uniontown Teachers Association plan to meet soon to discuss the possibilities and create a plan.

There are also other particular dates remaining in the school year in which school is not normally in session that could be used to make up time, Rockhold said.

"When you lose days, you lose the opportunity for instruction," he said.