JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Snow days will be followed by makeup days for Mississippi public school students who stayed home in January and February because of snow and ice.
At least 130 of the state’s 151 school districts missed some time because of the weather, even if it was only a late start or an early dismissal, according to a survey by the state Department of Education. They will have to make up the time, after the state Board of Education last month rejected requests from 34 districts to forgive some or all missed days.
While the state forgave large numbers of missed school days after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, officials have generally been stricter since then.
“My comment is they ought to go to school,” state Board of Education Chairman Wayne Gann of Corinth said. “Superintendents are good at making excuses.”
State law requires students to attend school 180 days a year and teachers to work 187 days. The state Board of Education has the power to waive those requirements in cases when the governor declares a state of emergency, as he did during the January and February winter storms.
Districts must declare that it’s “not economically feasible or practicable” to operate for the full 180 class days required under state law.
Most of the school systems that asked forgiveness missed three or more days. Across much of south Mississippi, districts dismissed early on Monday Jan. 27 for a rare winter storm and didn’t return to school until Friday, Jan. 31. In his letter requesting a waiver, Petal Superintendent John Buchanan called it “Snowpocalypse 2014.”
Many systems on the Gulf Coast schedule makeup days for hurricanes, but had already skipped school on those days after a quiet hurricane season. For example, Long Beach said it had four weather days scheduled, but all were set before Jan. 7.
“I know North Mississippi has to deal with these ice/snow weather days more often, and I am not familiar with the possibility of how that works,” wrote Debbie Gholston, an assistant superintendent in Hancock County.
Reasons that districts asked for the waiver included high operating costs, high rates of expected absenteeism and a reluctance to extend the school year into the end of May or early June.
“Parents and students make plans for holidays and summer days,” the Franklin County district wrote in its waiver request. “The attendance for makeup days that occur on holidays and summer days is usually 40 to percent less than regular scheduled days.”
That could mean less money for schools, a number of districts pointed out, since the Mississippi Adequate Education Program funding formula is allocated based largely on average daily attendance.
“High absenteeism among could adversely affect student performance as well as MAEP allocations,” wrote Lawrence County Superintendent Tammy Fairburn, adding that high teacher absenteeism would also be bad for learning and cost the district money for hiring substitutes.
Officials said some schools already made up a snow day on Feb. 17, the Presidents Day holiday. And others didn’t even bother requesting a waiver. Alcorn County, North Bolivar and Wilkinson County all lost four days but didn’t ask to have them forgiven.
Regarding late or early dismissals, schools get credit for a full day of school as long as it was in session for five hours.
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Online: Snow day waiver requests: https://bit.ly/1cap3Ki
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