Snow Days to Be Made Up During February Break

Farmington students will be making up classroom time lost to Tropical Storm Irene and the Halloween snowstorm over February vacation, the Board of Education decided Monday night.

The board unanimously supported a recommendation by Superintendent Kathleen Greider to recover six snow days by holding school on four of the five days marked as February vacation, using a professional development day scheduled for March 19, and by adding one day in June. The plan allows for a long weekend with President’s Day off and makes June 13 the last day of school for students. A seventh snow day was already made up using Veteran’s Day.

Greider said she made her recommendation based on the best interest of students who have lost a lot of instructional time leading up to testing.

“We have lost a significant amount of days before AP, CMT and CAPT assessments,” Greider said. “I am worried and I’ve seen as I’ve gone around to schools that students lost a lot during that break."

A few parents and a high school student addressed the board to echo the same concerns about missed time before testing. One added that snow days should be made up over February vacation to preserve April vacation, when juniors frequently make college trips.

Many of the board members relayed comments they had received from parents about changes to the calendar. Ron Janeczko noted that the district may have to cancel school during the February days due to snow. In that case, the school district would lose the benefit and families would lose their vacations.

Greider acknowledged the uncertainty of the situation. According to the district policy, snow days would normally be made up in April, not February, but the unusual circumstances require action, she said.

“We know we’re just entering the winter months and we have to have a plan going forward,” she said. “If there are more snow days, we’ll go to the policy and extend school to the 20th [of June] to give us five full makeup days.”

Greider said she had considered how surrounding school districts are handling the issue. Avon and Simsbury will use February vacation time. Canton and Plainville will tack time onto the end of the year, she said.

Board Chairman Mary Grace Reed applauded Greider for putting the best interest of students first. Melanie Meehan thanked her for the work she put into leading the school system through the storm and in developing the calendar changes.

“This is the true nature of a crisis and it requires emergency action,” Reed said. “We will make the effort to make people understand we’ve done the right thing.”

Greider's plan allows for seven more emergency days at the end of the school year before taking time from April vacation.

“We know we’re just entering the winter months and we have to have a plan going forward,” she said. “If there are more snow days, we’ll go to the policy and extend school to the 20th [of June] to give us five full makeup days.”