Despite record snowfall this winter, schools not likely to make up most missed days

Although most schools have missed six to eight days this winter due to record amounts of snowfall, they are unlikely to make up most of those days because of extra time already built into their calendars as well as extenuating circumstances.

School districts already build in instructional time within their calendars that goes above and beyond the classroom time required by the state. In essence, it serves as a buffer for snow days.

Delaware Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery will make her recommendation as to whether school districts will be forgiven for most of the days they missed to the State Board of Education at its March meeting.

The Delaware Department of Education, with approval of the State Board of Education, may reduce the hours of instructional time for just cause or unusual circumstances, per state code.

Indeed, some of the days that schools missed were during states of emergency, and those days will be treated as though students were in school, DOE Director of Teacher and Administrative Development Wayne Barton said.

In addition, some schools districts had extenuating circumstances that could lead the state to forgive even more days, Barton said from his Dover office. Among them are the Seaford School District, which saw the roof of its elementary school cave in, and the Delmar School District, which lost heat for at least one day.

These schools and others who might have found themselves in similar predicaments can request to have additional days forgiven, he said.

The Red Clay Consolidated is in a wait-and-see mode, spokeswoman Pati Nash said.

“In past years, we have been excused for some state of Emergency days,” Nash said.

Red Clay, the state’s second largest school district, missed eight days due to snow, she said. But Red Clay has extra time built into its calendar – at least three days’ worth.

The Brandywine School District has a similar amount of extra time built into its calendar, spokeswoman Alexis Andrianopoulos said.

Brandywine also missed eight days because of snow as of Feb. 12 – three days in December and a whole week after the two February snowstorms, she said.

A major snowstorm dumped 21.5 to 26.5 inches of snow throughout the Diamond State from Friday, Feb. 5 into Saturday, Feb. 6. The state and the Mid-Atlantic region were then hammered again by a blizzard that began Tuesday, Feb. 9 and lasted all of Wednesday, Feb. 10 – dropping 8 to 13 inches of snow across the state.

“This year was every unusual in terms of the amount of snow we received,” Andrianopoulos said.

As for private schools, they have discretion to determine their own calendar, Barton said.

Schools under the auspices of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, such as Padua, St. Elizabeth and St. Mark’s High, must make up three snow days. Schools have discretion as to when they can make up the time.

For instance, Padua Academy missed the entire week that began Feb. 8 as well as Friday, Feb. 26, spokeswoman Ann Slater Lewandowski said. Padua will make up three of those days on March 8, April 1, and June 4.

St. Elizabeth, which missed seven days, will make up for snow days on March 31, April 1 and April 26, spokesman Kevin Scott said.

Other Catholic schools that are independent of the diocese, such as Salesianum School, Archmere Academy and Ursuline Academy, have discretion.

At Sallies, which missed six days due to snow, the plan is to not make up any days, spokesman Peter Castagna said. That could change if the all-boys school misses any more days to snow.