WCPS: Missed classes must be made up
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 22, 2015 1:50 AM
Wayne County students who got almost a week off because of the ice and cold should not be celebrating just yet.
Those four days will have to be made up, officials say.
Losing four days of classes presents a problem, since the state requires students to attend class a certain number of days a year or receive a designated number of hours of instructional time.
According to N.C. General Statute 115C-84, district school calendars must have a minimum of 185 days -- or 1,025 hours -- of instruction, covering at least nine calendar months.
"In years past, when there was a little more calendar flexibility, I think they built in extra days that could be used for snow days," said Ken Derksen, the school system's director of communication services. "We no longer have that flexibility.
"Naturally we have to adhere to the N.C. school calendar legislation in regards to making sure that our students meet the required number of hours within a school calendar year."
Typically, the first option the district looks at is to replace the time from available teacher workdays. Hopefully, the district will not be faced with canceling any more days and can concentrate on the ones lost this past week.
"We're taking a close look at all the days that can be used for makeup days and making our decision," Derksen said. "We'll work to get the word out to parents and the students so everyone can plan accordingly."
Freezing rain and low temperatures as well as the threat of ice on the roads prompted the majority of the cancellations, Derksen said.
The unpredictability of the weather pattern turned at least one two-hour delay into a cancellation as school personnel tried to figure out if it would be safe students and bus drivers to be on the road.
Many counties across North Carolina also canceled school all week.
The prediction of single-digit temperatures and wind chills played a big part in the decision, Derksen said.
"Right at the time the buses would be hitting the roadways and children would be standing at the bus stops -- some buses go out as early as 5:30 a.m.," he said. "Even on a two-hour delay, at 7:30, meteorologists were saying (it would be) minus one-degree wind chill."