The Lawrence school district has had three snow days so far this month, and schools may need to make up time down the line.
Due to Lawrence’s past week of snow storms and bitter cold temperatures, the Lawrence school district canceled school and all activities on Tuesday, Jan. 9, Wednesday, Jan. 10 and Tuesday, Jan. 16.
The state forgives a school district the same number of inclement weather days, or hours, as the number of makeup days, or hours, it builds into its calendar and uses, district spokesperson Julie Boyle said.
Monday, April 15 is the district’s one inclement weather makeup day built into its 2023-24 calendar. The calendar the school board approved for this year shows no school in session that day, but school could be held that day to cancel out one of the snow days.
Boyle said the district typically waits to calculate its instructional hours until after the months with extreme weather conditions pass. Once hours are totaled, district leaders will determine if they must add minutes or hours to meet state requirements.
If needed, the school board determines how to do it. Past school boards have added minutes to remaining school days to make up time.
Superintendent Anthony Lewis said during the school board’s Jan. 8 meeting that much consideration goes into snow day decisions. He said he communicates with the transportation team about safety risks to and from school, especially concerning the district’s students living in rural Douglas County.
Facilities and operations staff need five to six hours to clear school parking lots and sidewalks of snow, Lewis said. And if it’s cold enough, diesel fuel sometimes can gel and prevent buses from starting.
Shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, the district announced that school would be in session Wednesday but there would be no morning bus service. Due to diesel fuel gelling, some buses couldn’t start, and cold weather would cause other buses to be unreliable in finishing their routes.
Ultimately, however, decisions for health and safety are up to families, and the district asks families to notify their children’s individual schools if they decide to keep them home.
Visit the district’s website, usd497.org/inclementweather, for information about its inclement weather responses.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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