School make-up days set
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on January 12, 2011 1:46 PM
The weekend snowstorm might have missed large parts of Wayne County, but the subsequent icy mix that covered roads around the county resulted in school being called off for two days that must now be made up by students.
For the third day this week, Wayne County Public Schools shifted class schedules because of the weather.
Monday and Tuesday, school was canceled due to potential problems on the county roads traveled each day by its 19,000-plus students. Today, start time was delayed two hours.
An earlier make-up day had already been announced, for next Wednesday, Jan. 19.
Additional make-up days were announced this morning by Olivia Pierce, executive director of community relations, media and technology.
"The two days that we missed this week, we will make them up on Tuesday, Jan. 18, and Monday, Feb. 14," she said. "The total make-up days for the three that we've missed due to weather will be Jan. 18, Jan. 19, which were designated workdays between the semesters, and then the third day will be Feb. 14, which was a regular teacher workday.
"That is standard procedure. Missed days will be made up on the first available workday or as designated by the superintendent if there were no workdays."
The weather disruption also came in the midst of end of course exams for high school students. Officials said exams will resume on the first full day of school.
North Carolina law requires public schools to offer 180 student days and 1,000 instructional hours during the school year. To comply with the state law, the school year cannot start before Aug. 25 or end after June 10.
The current school calendar calls for classes to end June 9, so any make-up days must be made prior to that. Local board policy requires the school system to factor in five make-up days available for scheduling after the Christmas break.
The next school holiday is Martin Luther King Day on Monday, with a student holiday the next day as well. Easter vacation is currently set for the week of April 25-29. Memorial Day, May 30, is also an observed holiday.