Some area schools won’t be making up snow days
Published 10:29 pm Friday, February 9, 2018
- Snow
It snowed. Students played. Classes were missed.
Will they have to be made up?
That depends on where your child goes to school.
Students enrolled at Brookhaven Academy, a college prep school under the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, get a free ride. They won’t need to make up the days missed when it snowed in December and January.
BA Development Director Brian Emory said MAIS sent out letters last week that they would not require affiliated schools to make up the missed days due to the inclement weather.
Emory said BA could have added days at the end of the year or shortened fall break, but did neither.
“We didn’t have to do that this year,” he said.
The Lincoln County School District will make up two of the four days missed — Dec. 8 and Jan. 16-18.
Superintendent Mickey Myers said students won’t be off on two scheduled holidays — Feb. 19 and March 29. That’s Presidents Day and the Thursday before Good Friday and Easter.
Myers met with principals and decided those were the best two days to use as make-up days rather than adding to the end of the school year or cutting into spring break.
“It seemed like those made the most sense to make up those days,” he said.
He said he’s heard of some districts in the state requiring students to make up days by attending class on Saturday.
He said teachers are gearing up for state testing and to waive attendance for all four days would cut into the instructional time. That’s why students are making up at least two of the days.
“I think school will be well attended those days,” he said.
Suzanne Hirsch, executive director of the Mississippi School of the Arts, said students missed three days due to icy weather.
“By extending a couple of our early release days, we have accommodated for the lost time,” she said. “MSA attends school for 185 days and therefore exceed minimum criteria required for credit.”
Students in the Brookhaven School District may or may not have to make up days, said Deputy Superintendent Rod Henderson.
Schools were closed Dec. 8 and Jan. 16-18 because of the weather. Officials have talked about it but have not made a formal decision yet, he said.
Students are definitely off for Presidents Day because its a scheduled professional development day for teachers, he said.
Henderson hopes to have an answer for parents by the end of the month.