Dade County Schools Superintendent Patty Priest said her system's calendar doesn't have much room for "flood days."
"I hope this is not a sign of things to come," Ms. Priest said Monday as rain pounded down on the roof above her head.
Since flooding Monday wasn't as bad in Dade as in other areas, officials in the county decided to keep schools open, she said.
"We don't have that many snow days in our calendar," Ms. Priest said. "Having to use them for rain days is not a good thing. We only have two or three."
Georgia is "not like Tennessee that can have 13 in their calendar, so that's a problem for us," she said.
Students in Georgia can miss up to four days on the state's 180-day calendar before they must make them up, said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education.
School closures shouldn't cause problems as long as they aren't extended, Mr. Tofig said.
"One day is not going to be a huge concern," he said.
Walker County Schools closed Monday, but spokeswoman Elaine Womack said the system can make up the time if it uses all its snow days.
"We have added time to days and added Saturdays when necessary," she said.
Whitfield County officials said they won't lose a snow day to Monday's early dismissal because the system dismissed elementary schools at 11 a.m. and middle and high schools at noon.
"We do not have to make up the day because students attended half the day at school," said Eric Beavers, Whitfield schools spokesman.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
Or login with:
New Account