Sean C. Morgan
The School Board voted Monday night to try to add makeup days without extending school into the summer or spring break.
The board allowed a contingency to add days at the end of the year or during spring break if the superintendent is unable to reach an agreement with the district’s unions.
The district has canceled school five times this year, said Supt. Tom Yahraes. The second trimester has three extra days, 59 days compared to 56 days in the first and third, built into the calendar in case of inclement weather.
Without the adjustment, the district will still meet requirements for instructional hours at all levels except grades nine through 11, said Director of Student Learning Rachel Stucky. The district must have at least 990 hours, but with the cancellations and no makeup days, it will have just 983.67 hours for grades nine through 11.
For the district, maximizing instructional time is a priority, Yahraes said.
Michelle Snyder, president of the teachers union, praised Yahraes for making a decision to keep students and staff safe.
If there is anything the union can do to support the board in its decision, she said, the union is ready to help.
“We value instructional time just as much as you guys do,” Snyder said.
So the administration is proposing to add back some instructional hours, Stucky said.
“It’s an unusual year with our construction going on,” Yahraes said.
While Maintenance Supervisor Josh Darwood told Yahraes he would do his best to work with it, he would prefer school to end as scheduled to allow construction to begin because the buildings need to be ready by the end of August.
Yahraes outlined a couple of other considerations in adding back instructional hours: The district’s past practice has been to add back days when it loses more than the minimum; classified staff lose hours and wages during snow days; and the district has a schedule of “robust summer school” at all grade levels.
Yahraes proposed using conference days for grades seven through 12, April 25 and April 26, to add back two days and using one end-of-year grading day, June 14, which would become the new last day of school for students.
The last four early-release Wednesdays, normally used for professional development, will be available for teachers to offset the lost grading day.
The adjustment would allow classified staff to recover hours, Yahraes said, and construction could start on time.
The plan is subject to collective bargaining agreements, Yahraes said, so he will have to negotiate an agreement. If there is no agreement, the time could be added back during spring break or at the end of the year.
Once bargaining is complete, the superintendent will communicate with the community, staff, parents and students.
Present at the meeting were Jim Gourley, Chanz Keeney, Jason Van Eck, Mike Reynolds, Chairman Jason Redick, Angela Clegg, Debra Brown and Jenny Daniels. Toni Petersen was absent.