JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- Updated February 9, 2011 at 8:50 p.m.
Jefferson City families hoping to begin their summer vacations over Memorial Day weekend will have to revise their plans.
The district's decision to close school again Wednesday for bad weather means the school year will be extended.
The district exhausted its "built-in" snow days with last week's blizzard.
So the calendar make-up for Wednesday will be Tuesday, May 31st.
"That's unusual turf for us. Typically, we're out before Memorial Day,” Jefferson City School Distract Spokesman David Luther said. “In a lot of school districts, going past Memorial Day is not a big deal. But for us, we like to get out before Memorial Day for a variety of reasons. One, we're going to start summer school not too long after that."
Under current state law, the school district could miss one more day due to bad weather without having to extend the calendar into June.
However, if the district loses two more snow days, the second of those would have to be made up and, in that case, the last day of school would be pushed back to Wednesday, June 1st.
Original Story
Jefferson City students went back to class on Monday for the first time since last Monday, and with MAP testing on the horizon, some kids had a lot of catching up to do. Others just had to get readjusted to the classroom.
“We might lose an extra day or two while they ramp back up,” Southwest Elementary School Principal Nicole Langston said. “It’ll be a long process, but you know, our teachers know to be sensitive to that.”
With so many snow days this year, JCPS has already exceeded its six built in snow days. In fact, they’ve had eight snow days so far this year, so the last day of school is now May 27.
If there is more inclement weather, the district will be forced to extend school past Memorial Day, a practice it doesn’t usually do.
“"It is very difficult,” JCPS spokesman David Luther said. “When you're talking about not only the 8,200 to 8,300 students that we're serving, and their families, but yes, our staff, roughly a thousand staff members, a lot of those folks have already made plans.”
Administrators did consider canceling the Presidents’ Day and Good Friday Holidays, but opted against it. Instead, administrators are hoping for good weather until the end of the year.
"I hope that there are no more snow days,” Langston said.
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