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Its official: Westport Public Schools have used all three of its consequence-free snow days for the year, and January isn't even over. This means Thursday's snow daythe fourth of the year and any additional cancellations will have to be made up at some point.
But that doesn't necessarily mean the school year will drag on into July. According to Board of Education Chairman Donald O'Day, the board will consider a number of options when it comes to making up lost days.
"In Connecticut, schools are required by law to have 180 days of instruction," O'Day said. "Most districts go with the 180 days, but we go with 182 days for a number of reasons. And in the past, when we've had a lot of closures because of the weather, we've actually used one of those extra days."
Although one or both of those extra days can be used as makeup days, O'Day said he doesn't like this option because it cuts teaching time. But he said an even more undesirable option is extending the school year past its scheduled end date.
This year, the last day of school is set for June 22. And O'Day doesn't think extending the school year past its end date is beneficial for students.
"Kids are probably not in the same position for learning toward the end of the year as they are at the beginning of midyear," he said.
Outside of these two options, what else can be done? For starters, O'Day said using a staff development day as a makeup day is a possibility. Other possibilities include cutting into the February or April vacations.
The board will discuss all these options at upcoming meetings, he said.
Which option do you think is best when it comes to making up for snow days? Leave a comment below or email Westport reporter Vanessa Inzitari at vinzitari@mainstreetconnect.us.
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