For much of last week, Franklin County Schools and Russellville City Schools were closed because of hazardous winter weather. Not only were the students excited about the break, but also as of right now they will not have to make up any school days.
Last Monday, students were already out for President’s Day when the temperatures started to drop around the area. With the threat of ice, schools delayed two hours on Tuesday because of below-freezing temperatures. On Wednesday, Franklin County Schools were delayed two hours, but Russellville City Schools were dismissed the entire day because of snow. On Thursday, both school systems were delayed two hours, and on Friday, both school systems were dismissed for snow and icy road conditions. This Monday, February 23, both school systems delayed school for two hours, and then dismissed school at 2 p.m. for yet another threat of snow and ice in Franklin County.
According to the Alabama State Department of Education, all school systems have to have around 1,080 hours of instruction per school year. A regular school day is about 7 hours long excluding lunch and class changes. The days that school was delayed for two hours still counted as full days. Even Monday, February 23 was considered a full day because the students were fed lunch.
Last week, Franklin County Schools only lost one day and Russellville City schools lost two days. However, both superintendents feel confident that those missed days will not affect the school calendar. They are currently working on their requests to send to the ALSDE for approval to not make up those missed school days.
“We have a few snow days built into our calendar,” said Franklin County Schools Superintendent Gary Odom. “We will be fine as long has we do not miss any more days.”
However, if more days are taken for inclement weather in the future, there are ways to make up time lost. Days during Spring break or other holidays could be used to make up instruction hours, or days could be added at the end of the year. Both superintendents assured these actions would only be taken if needed to meet the 1.080 hours of instruction required by the ALSDE.
To make a decision about delaying or canceling school days, superintendents take several steps to make an informed decision.
“First, I talk with other superintendents from surrounding school districts about the situation and we look at the forecast from the National Weather Service,” said Russellville City Schools Superintendent Rex Mayfield. “We also check the roads in the morning before bus drivers and cafeteria workers begin to drive to work to determine if we need to delay or cancel because of ice on the roads.”
More winter weather is forecasted for this week; however, the school systems will keep everyone aware of delays or cancellations in a timely manner.
“We call every parent with a phone,” Mayfield said. “We also use all media outlets to get the word out.”
