PAINESVILLE, Ohio — With much more cold weather on the way, more schools may have to close their doors. But there’s no more counting of snow days, as many schools have switched over to a new hourly system.
The new system offers superintendents more flexibility in deciding how to respond to inclement weather.
“It’s actually given schools the ability they need to make decisions based on weather conditions,” said John Shepard, Superintendent of Painesville City Schools.
“We make our decision based on the safety of our staff and students. And that’s first and foremost in our minds,” said Shepard.
Old rules allowed for schools to take up to five calamity days during any year. A school district could also take up to three more days if a “blizzard bag” is sent home with students, a topic which is often debated.
Finally, if a school exceeding those options, they were required to make up the lost classroom time at the end of the year.
Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, districts are now required to meet a certain number of hours instead of days per year.
The magic numbers: 910 hours for students in kindergarten to sixth grade, and 1,001 hours for seventh to 12th graders. Any hours exceeding those required do not have to be made up.
Many schools have many more hours than required without adjusting their calendars. Painesville, for example, has 170 hours more than what’s required for upper level students.
“Prior to this we were only able to take an entire day. We could start late, up to two hours. But anything over that two hour part, we would have to take an entire day,” said Shepard.
Now, they have more than enough hours in the bank. But if too many days are missed, his district would likely elect to add extra days anyway.
“We look at the instructional time lost, and we know that our students are best served by a highly qualified classroom teacher. So you can’t really replace that,” said Shepard.
He added, “We will consider adding time at the end of the day to allot for any instructional time beyond what would typically be a ten day period.”
While most schools are able to take advantage of the new law, others aren’t so lucky.
For instance, Mentor schools, one of the largest districts in the state, will continue to keep track of snow days.
Why? Any school district with a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with teachers completed prior to the new law are grandfathered in. The new rules will take effect when a new agreement with teachers is reached.
Superintendents who are able to take advantage of the new rules no longer need to count days when deciding to close, allowing them to focus on more important things.
“We are business as usual until otherwise notified,” said Shepard. “We will be monitoring the situation and know that we have to get up early in the morning and check things out. And make sure it’s safe for our students and staff to travel.”
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