Board to Pick Plan for Making Up Lost School Days

The board of education will decide Nov. 22 how to make up for the because of power outages in the wake of the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

Because of power outages, and schools were closed for three days while and the were closed for two days.

State law requires that schools be in session for 180 days. The district’s official calendar has already designated Feb. 17, April 2, April 3, April 4 and April 5 to be used as extra school days to make up for more than three emergency closings.

If schools do not have more than three unanticipated closings, additional days off are added to the Memorial Day recess.

Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder presented Tuesday six options for the board to consider to make up for the lost days. The options ranged from adding the days at the end of the school year in June to having school on Jan. 2, the day after New Year’s Day, which is considered a holiday on the school calendar.

In a discussion about the options, board members seemed to reach an informal consensus that narrowed the options to two plans.

Plan A calls for schools to be open Feb. 17 and April 2 at the middle school and Hamilton, while Eisenhower and Van Holten would be open Feb. 17, April 2 and April 3.

The second option has schools open on Jan. 16 [Martin Luther King Day] and Feb. 17 at the middle school and Hamilton, while the other two would be open Jan. 16,  Feb. 17 and June 20.

Schilder said his initial preference was to have school at all four facilities on Jan. 2 and Feb. 17, with Eisenhower and Van Holten also in session April 2. He said that Jan. 16 was designated as an in-service day for staff members and would have to be re-scheduled if classes were held.

But board vice president Patrick Breslin pointed out that Jan. 2 is a legal holiday because New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, and most corporations have designated it as a day off for their employees.

“Most of the general population will be off Jan. 2,” he said, adding that he preferred the second option.

Board member Jeffrey Brookner also said he favored that plan because it is too early to know if the district needs to make up for the days lost last week. If schools have no more unanticipated closings, then there will be no need to make up for the lost days in any of the schools.

Board member Lynne Hurley said the board needs to make a decision soon so that parents can start making plans, and Cindy Cullen suggested that the board seek input from parents on the district’s website before a vote is taken.

But Brookner said “there are too many options” that may confuse parents.

“There are probably a hundred options,’’ he said.

Schilder also discounted asking parents for their input.

“I think it will be all over the place,” he said. “Ultimately you’re going to please some people and not please others.”

Schilder said he does not expect the State Department of Education to give any guidance to school districts throughout the state that lost school days because of the Oct. 29 storm.

A decision is expected at he Nov. 22 meeting, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Harmon V. Wade Administration Building on Newmans Lane.