Kids of all ages enjoy Clark County’s snow

For many Pacific Northwesterners, a good sled may not be part of the winter recreation kit.

That wasn’t going to stop Kyle McDonald from sledding with his son. The Vancouver dad stopped at several stores before finally finding his prize at Lowe’s.

“It took me a while to find one,” McDonald said as his 7-year-old son, Addison, hurtled down the hill at Leverich Park on a lime green and fluorescent orange sled.

Wednesday’s historic snowfall, which left up to a foot of powder on the ground in some places, means at least two more snow days for area school districts — and with them, the kind of proper winter recreation last month’s gray and icy snow days didn’t allow.

School districts had already announced Thursday closures as of Wednesday afternoon.

Local districts have already added up to four make-up days in response to last month’s snow and will now have to add more days to the end of the year. Schools will also push back the end of the semesters and trimesters in order to accommodate equal classroom time from one term to another.

State statute requires that schools have 180 instruction days, and about 1,000 instruction hours, not either/or, said Evergreen Public Schools spokeswoman Gail Spolar. That means districts can’t extend half-days to full days in order to make up for students missing school.

“That doesn’t help us toward that 180 (day requirement),” Spolar said.

In extreme cases, districts are able to have the 180-day requirement waived, but that has not been granted locally this year.

“It’s weather,” said Pat Nuzzo, Vancouver Public Schools spokeswoman. “It’s unpredictable.”

Nathan Olson, spokesman for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, said districts can apply for waiver days so long as they’ve included built-in snow days in their calendar, like Vancouver, Evergreen and Battle Ground do. Vancouver, for example, has exhausted those make-up days.

“They need to show they have tried to make up those days,” Olson said.

But even if districts receive waiver days, they must still provide an average of 1,000 instructional hours for students in grades 1 through 8, and 1,080 for high school students, Olson said. That means districts might have to find creative ways to add extra hours, like extending half-days or adding an extra hour to a day — though Olson notes most districts build extra instructional hours in, just in case of emergency.

Though the Mattos family lives across the street from Lincoln Elementary School — close enough to steal snow from the playgrounds to build a snowman so as not to muss up the picturesque snow on their own lawn — 8-year-old Kate and 10-year-old Kenny’s minds were far away from the extra summer days they’ll spend in class.

Kate rattled off a list of activities she had planned for the perfect snow day: hot chocolate, snowball fights and finishing her snowman. Then there’s the snow ice cream she planned to make with her brother later.

“So you need half and half, vanilla, fresh snow and …” she paused, thinking.

“Sugar?” asked her mom, Leanne Mattos, a Clark County Public Works employee who didn’t have to go to work after Clark County closed its offices.

“Sugar!” her grinning daughter cried back.

Meanwhile, a novel sight passed the family: James Lanz, a nearby resident, skiing past the family on Northwest Daniels Street.

“It sure is not often that we can ski in our own neighborhood,” he said.