Philomath students won’t receive a free pass just because the Philomath School District canceled classes Feb. 13-14 during last week’s snow and ice storm.
The school district has no option with Oregon Department of Education requirements in place for the number of hours that students must attend during the academic year. Last year was an exception when the state allowed school districts to request a waiver for two missed days in the aftermath of a mid-January storm, which Philomath did utilize.
For this year, Susan Halliday, Philomath superintendent of schools, said students will make up one of the two days on Friday, May 23 but a final decision has not been made yet on the other day.
Halliday has proposed changing Thursday, June 12 from a half day to a full day and then having students return for a half day on Friday, June 13 before breaking for the summer.
“If we have any additional inclement weather issues … then this all changes in terms of where we go,” Halliday told the School Board during its meeting Tuesday evening. “That’s the recommendation I wanted to put forward and suggest.”
Nicole Stueve, Philomath Education Association representative who was at the meeting, expressed some concern over those final days, especially with the suggestion that licensed staff return the following week on Monday, June 16, which could disrupt vacation plans that some may already have in place.
Halliday chose to not utilize Feb. 17, which fell on Presidents Day, as a makeup day because of what she felt was too short of notice for families that may have had plans for the long weekend. Plus, attendance rates had been low with illness making its way around local campuses and the extra day off might help those students recover. And, a contractor was scheduled with the holiday in place to complete work on the access road to Clemens Primary School.