After the Camas School District canceled 10 days of school this year due to snow and inclement weather, Superintendent Jeff Snell is looking for a little help between now and the end of the school year.
“We’re hopeful for sunshine and no more snow,” he said.
Snell is also hoping for some relief from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. At Monday’s board meeting, the school board will vote on requesting a waiver from OSPI for four missed days. The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the board meeting room at the Zellerbach Administration Center, 841 N.E. 22nd Ave., Camas.
“Waiving four days felt like the maximum we could do and still get enough meaningful instructional hours for our kids,” Snell said.
While the district will still have to meet the required annual average of 1,027 instructional hours for students, it can apply for a waiver so it doesn’t have to make up every day missed due to weather. In addition to the minimum instructional hours, schools are required to offer at least 180 school days unless they get a waiver.
So far, the district has made up time by changing non-student-attendance days into regular days and making late arrival or early release days into full days. The district also tacked four days onto the end of the school year, so now the last day of school is June 26.
One thing Snell and district officials made sure not to change was graduation day. Snell said he didn’t want to change that because families plan for months for graduation, and because students might have to report to college, work or the service right after.
Snell said the next school year’s schedule is already set, because the district adopts schedules for two years at a time, but this year’s weather has led district officials to ask stakeholders if Camas should start doing the schedule differently, like adding in more make-up days. That’s still a work in progress, Snell said, adding that they asked staff, workers groups and residents for their thoughts.
“It’s hard because you don’t want to make your school year longer than it has to be,” Snell said. “This is a significant year, though, so we have to give it some thought.”
