MCSD deciding if students will make up January’s snow days

Whether and when Muscogee County School District students will make up one of the two days of classes missed due to this month’s winter storm will be determined Monday.

The Muscogee County School Board will conduct a called meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday to vote on revising the school district’s calendar, MCSD announced Friday morning.

The news release didn’t say what the recommendation will be from Superintendent David Lewis’ administration, but MCSD communications director Mercedes Parham told the Ledger-Enquirer in a phone interview that Lewis plans to recommend using the Feb. 19 Presidents Day holiday to make up one day of instructional time.

The state allows school districts to miss as many as four of the scheduled 180 days of classes per academic year without having to make up the time. MCSD is at the limit: Jan. 17-18, because of the snow and ice, and Sept. 11-12, because of Tropical Storm Irma.

But MCSD and most of Georgia’s school districts have contracts with the state that allow them flexibility from certain state laws and requirements in exchange for meeting annual performance targets. MCSD, which is a Strategic Waivers School System, has a waiver from the state law requiring schools to make up missed instructional time when it exceeds four days, Georgia Department of Education communications director Meghan Frick told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Friday.

In an email to MCSD employees Friday afternoon, Lewis wrote, “These four cancelled days of school represent a concerning amount of lost instructional time for our students.” Then he explained his recommendation’s rationale.

“My reasoning is that President’s Day is typically not considered a major travel holiday and it is the only day before statewide testing begins other than Spring Break, for which many families already have travel plans,” Lewis wrote. “In the event that students or school personnel have already made plans for February 19 that cannot be altered (weddings, college visitations, medical procedures, etc.), they will be excused with appropriate documentation.”

Other districts

The Ledger-Enquirer asked officials in other Columbus area school districts how many class days their students have missed this school year and whether and when they are making up that instructional time.

The Troup County School System has missed six class days this school year, said TCSS public relations director Yolanda Stephen.

“We already have one inclement weather day built into the calendar, but district leaders are still in talks concerning the possible number of make up days and when/if the students will have to make them up,” Stephen said.

The Russell County School District has missed five class days this school year, said RCSD superintendent Brenda Coley, and all of them don’t have to be made up because they are covered by the State of Emergency provision in Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s declaration.

The Chattahoochee County School District has missed four class days this school year, said ChattCo superintendent David McCurry, and no decision has been made about making up any of those days.

The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach school officials in Phenix City and Harris and Lee counties before Friday’s deadline.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 11:38 AM with the headline "MCSD deciding if students will make up January’s snow days."