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From the Desk of Dr. Halley: Snow Make-Up Days

By Halley, Heath on February 01, 2019

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It is incredible really, we have missed 7 days of school already and it is only February 1st. However, I consider ourselves fortunate as schools such as Clark County and Knox County have missed 10 consecutive days including today. I am following up my most recent article with “makeup” day requirements set forth by the state statute and monitored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Missouri Statute section 160.041.1 RSMo provides the guidance on required hours of class time to count as a school day. “School districts that provide a minimum term of fewer than 174 days (Putnam County R-I is one), and with a minimum of 1,044 hours, must have at least four hours of class time to count a day as an attendance day for calendar purposes.” So in real terms that means if your school calendar is less than 174 days, you must have a 4 hour school day for it to count as a day. MISSED SCHOOL DAYS...According to 171.033.4, RSMo: “In the 2009-2010 school year and subsequent years, a school district may be exempt from the requirement to make up days of school lost or canceled due to inclement weather in the school district when the school district has made up the six days required under subsection 2 of this section and half of the number of additional lost or canceled days up to eight days resulting in no more than ten total make up days required by this section.” “Inclement Weather”, for the purposes of this section, shall be defined as ice, snow, extreme cold, flooding or a tornado, but such term shall not include excessive heat.” So, for the snow, ice and extreme cold we must make up the first 6 days that we have currently missed. After the 6 days we make up 1 day for every 2 days missed up to a total of 10 makeup days. Thus, we make up the 7 that we have currently missed and if we miss #8, it is forgiven. Makeup the 9th day, #10 is forgiven; Makeup 11th day, #12 is forgiven; Makeup 13th and that becomes the 10th makeup day and every day past 13 are forgiven. The chart in the images section is a tool to assist you if you are like me and reading that description is confusing. Now, we currently have more days to make up than we have allotted in our 2018-2019 school calendar. I am working with our staff to identify the best way to rearrange our calendar to maximize the learning opportunities for our students. Once I have a recommendation for the Board of Education, that information will be communicated to you as quickly and efficiently as possible.