FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Since Christmas, Lawrence County public school students have attended school only 15 days due to severe winter weather, putting pressure on educators to meet state-mandated attendance requirements while also allowing students a summer vacation.
On Monday, lawmakers presented the third of three proposals to help strike that balance: a measure contained in the House budget that would forgive up to 10 missed school days this year. The House Education Committee is scheduled on Tuesday to vote on a similar bill, sponsored by Rep. John Will Stacey, D-West Liberty. Under that bill, only school districts that have missed at least 10 days would qualify for the waiver.
“We have got to figure out a way to provide relief and provide education,” said state Rep. Kelly Flood, D-Lexington, chairwoman of the House budget subcommittee that oversees primary and secondary education.
At least two other bills have been filed in the House dealing with school snow days, including one that would allow school districts to lengthen the school day in order to make up time.
“I never believed that if you had a certain number of days, that automatically translated to a certain achievement. It’s the quality of days, not the quantity of days,” said House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. “I don’t think kids going to school in July are as receptive to learning as if you get them out in June and get them a summer vacation.”
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said he supports forgiving school snow days - but only to a point.
“Some schools have only missed 10 days. Some schools have only missed six. So I think we are going to have to come up with a different mechanism for this type of distribution,” he said.
The Lawrence County school district, bordering West Virginia in eastern Kentucky, is one of 31 districts across the state that have missed at least 20 days because of winter weather, one of three school districts across the state that has missed at least 30 days, according to the Kentucky School Boards Association. In January, students were in school just five days, Superintendent Mike Armstrong said.
The prolonged absences have made it difficult for schools to keep up with the state-mandated calendar of at least 170 days and 1,062 hours of classroom instruction. The school board has already canceled spring break and Memorial Day and has extended the school year, which normally ends May 9, to June 12.
“I recognize that this year’s inclement winter weather has been unusual and sympathize with the problems it has caused with school calendars,” Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday said in an email to The Associated Press. “Of course the education of Kentucky’s public school students is our number one priority. I trust the legislature will find a balance between students’ need for instruction and the pressure to dismiss school to accommodate summer plans.”
One parent from Lawrence County, Kathy Keaton, said she used the downtime to work on her 7-year-old son’s reading skills, coordinating with teachers who placed assignments online. Keaton said she likes the House proposal to forgive school days. But she is also glad the local school board has canceled spring break.
“Spring break is to give the children a little break when they don’t have any break,” she said. “Our children have had enough breaks this year.”
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