Inclement weather days may be rare in Brookhaven, but when they occur, it is always fun for students to get an extra day off of school. That is until the day has to be made up at the end of the school year or during a scheduled holiday.

Brookhaven schools could soon be exempt from making up those emergency closing days to meet its 180-day required school year. At a Brookhaven School Board meeting Tuesday, the board heard the first reading of the emergency closings policy..

BSD Superintendent Ray Carlock explained the changes he made to the policy that allows the school to close during extreme situations like hurricanes, snow or a tornado.

“This particular one right here will probably make more people happy than any other one we do this year,” Carlock said. “What I did was just go back in and clarify the policy.”

With the revisions of the policy, Carlock said if there is any emergency situation based on weather, the superintendent does not have to request the board’s permission to close the schools and it exempts the district from the 180-day requirements.

“Being exempt from the 180 (day) requirement for an emergency situation means you don’t have to make the days up,” Carlock said.

Carlock said there are certain parameters the district must meet, but the new policy should clear up any questions the state could have in the future.

“They’ve questioned a few districts because their polices just weren’t very clear,” Carlock said. “Well, I just went and took it straight from the code section, and put it in there, so now there is no question about it. The procedure is stated in a couple of ways in the policy now.”

Carlock believes the policy change will be extremely well-received by the students, parents, faculty and staff in the district.

“When you have to make up a day, normally you have to add it to the end of the year or you do it on a holiday,” Carlock said. “You have no participation. Nobody comes anyway.”

The board approved the first reading of the policy in order for draft copies of the policy to be distributed throughout the school campus for input. The board will vote on the second reading of the policy at its September board meeting.

In other board business:

• The board also voted on the first reading of the “public participation at board meetings” policy. The biggest change to the policy was to reduce the time that individuals are given to speak to the board from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

• The board agreed to attend the school district’s board retreat and tour of schools on Sept. 13 at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

• Carlock told the board that the Alexander Junior High chiller installation would take place over Labor Day weekend.