Next year the Columbia School District will have predetermined makeup days to be used if school is cancelled because of weather.
That decision was made before this week’s snow and ice, which resulted in school dismissing early Tuesday and being out Wednesday and Thursday. The district hasn’t set yet when it will make up those days.
During discussions last week about the 2018-2019 school calendars, Superintendent Jason Harris mentioned the idea of planning ahead.
“We went ahead and marked our inclement weather days on the calendar, so if it snows next year before Christmas, we know which day we’ll make it up,” Harris said at the Jan. 11 school board meeting. “We know which day we’ll make up if it snows after Christmas. They will already be predetermined so parents will already know that when inclement weather hits, what days will be used to make them up.”
Other adjustments include moving Spring Break from April to March, which Harris said is more in line with other school districts, and spreading professional development throughout the year versus having it loaded at the beginning and end of the school year.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction DeeDee Randall said one of the reasons for the change in the Spring Break is because in April the district would have been into the first week of testing, then take Spring Break.
She said there will be only four different days between the city and county schools, all of them before school starts and around Christmas. City students will begin Aug. 6 and county students Aug. 7.
