Leonardtown, MD — With seven snow days and only five built into the calendar, the St. Mary’s County Board of Education had to find two more days somewhere. They did so by picking a day set aside for staff development and adding one day onto the end of the school year.
At their March 25 meeting, the board decided to have May 1 be a regular school day for students and also have June 17 be the last day of school instead of June 16. Friday June 19 will be the last day for teachers. The proposal for the school snow make-up days was presented to the school board by Director of Student Services Dr. Charles Ridgell (shown above),
The Friday May 1 decision was relatively easy since the school calendar has that listed as an alternate snow make-up day, although school board member Cathy Allen said she was concerned about the loss of that day for the teachers.
Some school systems, such as Charles, have used spring break to make up the lost time in the mandatory 180-day school year. But St. Mary’s has always been reluctant to do that because many parents have reservations for planned vacations.
So instead the board opted to add the extra day onto the school year. That day, as well as Monday and Tuesday June 15-16, will be half days. But Friday June 12 which on the school calendar was originally a half day will now be a full day.
Chesapeake Charter School, which operates under a different calendar, will make up its two snow days on May 1 and on Wednesday, May 20, which was part of a designated May break.
Allen noted the recent run of harsh winter weather and suggested that perhaps more days needed to be built into the calendar. She said the state board had given the state superintendent authority to waive the 180-day requirement under unusual circumstances. Sometimes the counties in Western Maryland face up to 15 days to make up. But she said the state board wants adherence to the 180 days whenever possible.
Allen also expressed concern that the last few half days would be wasted for instruction. But School Superintendent Scott Smith said they normally were reserved for activities such as school trips and promotion ceremonies. He said the previous week, however, was all full days and would have full instructional schedules.
Contact Dick Myers at news@thebaynet.com