Chattanooga’s wintery weather is erasing available snow days from several school systems’ calendars, leaving some out in the cold.
Snow on Tuesday caused Bledsoe and Grundy counties to use the last of their allotted 13 days built into the system calendar. The two counties now must find other ways to deal with off days if more bad weather comes around, officials say.
“We’d either have to extend the school year or not have spring break, or whatever else we have to do,” said Phil Kiper, director of Bledsoe County schools.
But there might be another way, he said. Several area school systems — including those in Bledsoe, Marion and Grundy counties — are applying for a waiver from the state commissioner of education to reclaim days canceled due to the H1N1 flu.
The commissioner can waive Tennessee’s 180-day classroom instruction requirement in the event of a natural disaster or serious illness outbreak that affects or endangers students or staff. If granted, those sick days go back into the system’s stockpile days, leaving teachers’ salaries unaffected, said Mark Griffith, director of Marion County schools.
“It gives the commissioner the authority to forgive days because of illness, so we’re going to try to go through the protocol it takes to make that happen,” said Joel Hargis, Grundy County schools director.
McMinn County, which still has five weather-related off days, shouldn’t have to worry about adjusting its calendar, Schools Director David Pierce said. The decision to close school or dismiss early is based on day-to-day situations, he said, but it’s sometimes better for schools to go ahead and take off the entire day.
“It’s more aggravating to dismiss early than it is to put in a full day,” Mr. Pierce said. “You have to notify the parents, and parents are having to make arrangements to accommodate children.”
Stay-at-home mother Gwen Roe, 25, said her schedule allows her to easily pick up her daughter Kaylah, 7, from school if she’s dismissed early. But, she said, sometimes by the time school is dismissed the bad weather already has hit.
“Hamilton County will send them to school when, on the news, it says the weather is going to be bad,” Ms. Roe said. “I remember when it rained so bad, I couldn’t get to the school because the roads were closed.”
Hamilton County is one of the state’s larger school districts, at 500 square miles, and closing schools becomes a daunting task when factoring in the county’s varied terrain, system spokeswoman Danielle Clark said. Because of those considerations, she said, the county has taken the stance to close all schools, even if some areas receive no inclement weather.
School officials said the recent weather is unlike any situation the area has had at least in the past 25 years. Several recalled that the last time they knew of weather causing such extensive time off from school was in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
SCHOOLS CLOSED TODAYMarion CountyGrundy CountySource: School systemsTODAY’S FORECASTOccasional light snow or flurries is expected today, but temperatures should warm up and bring out sunny skies for the remainder of the school week, said Mary Black, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn. Thursday and Friday’s temperatures will be in the mid- to upper-40s, with the sun making an appearance for a slight warming pattern, she said.
“Back years ago in the ’80s, I remember where we hardly went at all in the month of January,” said Jerry Levengood, Rhea County schools superintendent. “I guess it just cycles around. This is the most days we’ve missed now in several years.”
Rhea County was on its seventh day out of school Tuesday, Mr. Levengood said, and has three snow days left. The county has used one of its professional development days and could use the other two to make up any additional days off “if we needed them,” he said.
The county also could add several days to the end of the school year, which lets out May 25, and still be finished before Memorial Day on May 31, he said.
Melanie Watson, 36, a kindergarten teacher in Rhea County, said she worries about students catching up from the missed days.
“As a teacher, I’m definitely concerned about having to try to catch up,” she said. “But as a parent, you can never have too much time with your kids.”