Crescent-News.com - Canceled classes extend some school years

By JENNY DERRINGER

derringer@crescent-news.com

It's been a long cruel winter, more so for some school districts than others. While all have had to contend with fog, ice and snow this year, others continue to be at the mercy of area rivers spilling over their banks.

Because of this, the majority of school districts are either at their allotment of calamity days or have quickly surpassed the allowed number.

State law requires districts to be in session 182 days, less parent-teacher conferences and teacher professional days. Because of this, districts can miss up to five days due to a variety of reasons, including snow, ice, fog, disease, damage to buses or the facility, or other uncontrolled circumstances.

To accommodate the possibility of missing more than the state-permitted five days, boards of education build make-up dates into their school calendars.

Topping the list for an all-time high number of calamity days with 11 this school year is Paulding Exempted Village Schools.

"We've had fog, snow, ice and then flooding," said superintendent Pat Ross. "We're thankful we haven't had a tornado."

So make-up days will be underway beginning today, though it is for staff members only. After that, students will return to the classroom to make up five more days including March 25, May 22-23 and May 27-28.

Those currently logging in at eight calamity days for the 2007-08 school year are Wayne Trace Local, Antwerp Local, Continental Local and Ottawa-Glandorf Local.

Of those, Antwerp contends with the usual ice and snow, but one bus route in the county runs along the Maumee River and is affected by fog more than other areas, explained superintendent Mark Hartman.

Continental and Ottawa-Glandorf have been affected directly by the Blanchard River. In the Continental district, noted superintendent Gary Jones, the first three calamity days were used up Aug. 22-24 at the start of the school year when the Blanchard River flooded out areas of Putnam County including the Dupont and Cloverdale routes of the district.

At Ottawa-Glandorf, following the summer flood, the district developed a new calendar that built in additional days of school. Current make-up days to accommodate the missed days of classes included Oct. 29, Feb. 18 and March 20, the last of which is a portion of spring break, explained Kathy Fruchey, district treasurer.

Two days were then lost this month due to a second flood. If any additional days are needed, those would be tacked on to the end of the school year, May 30 and June 2-3.

Sitting fairly comfortably at the moment is Hicksville Exempted Village Schools with only four calamity days used to date. According to superintendent Kevin Miller, with only four bus routes in the district, he has been able to hold out an extra 15-20 minutes longer in making the final decision about not canceling classes.

"That makes all the difference," said Miller.

Adjacent to Hicksville's district is Central Local, which has missed seven days of classes since the start of the school year, or "too many," as superintendent Dave Bagley describes. Bagley, who has also served as former chief administrator at Antwerp Local Schools, has seen things much worse.

"I had some years where we're gone 10 days," said Bagley, in reference to Antwerp. "Every three or four years, you get one of those winters. Most are (related to) ice and fog, those are the big culprits. It's been kind of crazy for us."

Among other districts surpassing the allotted five calamity days are Ayersville Local, seven; Defiance City, six; Northeastern Local, seven; Napoleon Area, six; Patrick Henry Local, seven; Antwerp Local, eight; and Wayne Trace Local, eight.