Bend, Ore. – Snow days are fun for kids — until they get so many of them they want to go back to school. And while most Central Oregon school districts have room in their schedules for two or three canceled days, anything beyond that typically means calendar changes are needed to make up for lost time.
That’s been the case this winter in Central Oregon, where record snowfall caused widespread school closures several times.
The Bulletin reports that school districts have chosen a number of ways to make up for instructional time — the number of hours students are required by the state to spend in the classroom — that was lost to bad weather. Their solutions included the elimination of parent-teacher conference days, lengthening short school days, making holidays or teacher workdays regular school days and tacking on summer vacation days to the end of the school year.
Districts have gotten some help from the state. The Oregon State Board of Education used to allow school districts to count up to 14 hours of inclement weather toward instructional time, but the board changed that rule in 2014. The new rule, which does not allow inclement weather hours to count toward instructional time, went into full effect this school year.
This winter, though, the state made a temporary rule change because of all of the bad weather: School districts can apply for a waiver to ask for up to 14 hours for instructional time lost to inclement weather.
Bend-La Pine, Culver and Redmond school districts will apply for state waivers, which can count for up to about 2½ school days. But other school districts are making do without the state waiver by only adjusting their calendars.
Calendar changes by district:
Crook County School District added four days back to the school year by eliminating two staff-development days and rescheduling parent-teacher conference times. Since the school district had just four snow days, low compared with other school districts this winter, it was able to make up those days by adjusting its calendar and won’t apply for a state waiver. Changes still ahead include:
• March 10, originally scheduled as a staff-development day, will become a day that students attend school.
• April 12 and 13, originally scheduled as conference days, will become days that students attend school. Parent-teacher conferences will be moved to the evening of April 13 and the morning of April 14. The school district is also expecting teachers and parents to coordinate something else if those times do not work.
Even though Sisters School District missed seven school days, it doesn’t need to apply for the state waiver, according to the superintendent Curt Scholl. Instead, the district made calendar changes to make up all but one snow day. The school board’s policy allows one snow day not to be made up. Scholl said the district started the year with instructional hours well over the state minimum, which helped Sisters face the intense winter. The district also plans every school year to end on a Thursday so that if it needs to make up snow days, it can end on a Friday.
The district made adjustments by changing teacher workdays into student days; students attended school on Presidents Day; and the district also changed conference days to school days.
Changes still ahead include:
• March 3, school will be in session.
• June 1, seniors will take finals.
• June 13-14, school will be in session.
• June 15-16 will be half-days for all schools. June 16, a Friday, is now the last day of school.
Redmond School District missed about nine school days due to snow and clearing roofs of snow loads. Some schools closed eight days, while others closed nine. Changes to the district’s calendar added back three student days, and the district will apply for the state waiver to cover about 2½ school days. But that still leaves about four missing days, according to Superintendent Mike McIntosh.
McIntosh said districts aren’t punished for coming in under the number of instructional hours, if they give the reason — in this case merciless snowfall — and provide a plan for how they will avoid the issue in the future. McIntosh said he’s hoping to add more school days to begin with next year. But as McIntosh pointed out, regardless of whether the district had met the state minimum, it would be trying to make up for lost class time.
For Redmond elementary schools, changes still ahead include:
• March 23, previously a conference day, will be a regular school day.
• June 15, previously a half-day, will be a full school day.
• June 16 will be a half-day and the last day of school.
• June 19 will be a teacher workday.
For Redmond middle and high schools, changes still ahead include:
• March 10, previously a teacher workday, will be a regular school day.
• March 17, the end of the second trimester, there will be no school for middle and high school students. This will become a teacher workday.
• March 20 will become the first day of the third trimester.
• June 15, previously a half-day, will be a regular school day.
• June 16 will be a half-day and the last day of school.
• June 19 will be a teacher workday.
Jefferson County isn’t applying for the state waiver. Instead, it has made several changes to its school calendar. While it lost nine days due to snow, it added back seven school days to its calendar. Changes still ahead include:
• March 3 and 13 become full student days.
• May 26 becomes a full student day.
• June 12 is a full student day.
• June 13-15 become full student days, and June 15 is the last full day for students.
Culver School District built two snow days into its calendar, but with six snow days total — two of them shortened Wednesdays — the district still has about 21 class hours to make up. The district held school on Feb. 20, usually a holiday, and Feb. 21, originally scheduled as a staff-development day.
Changes still ahead include:
• June 14, previously the last day of school with an early release, becomes a full school day.
• June 15, previously a teacher workday, will become the last day of school. Students will be released early at 12:30 p.m.
That leaves the district still 2½ hours short of its instructional hour requirement, according to Superintendent Stefanie Garber. The district will request the state waiver for the remaining hours.
Bend-La Pine has changed its school calendar twice this year. The district needed to make up for lost instructional time from snow days and from days when the district canceled school to remove snow from roofs after an elementary gym roof collapsed due to the weight of snow Jan. 12. The district is adding back class time by eliminating some parent-teacher conference days and extending a few short days.
