The Reynoldsburg City Schools Board of Education met Sept. 30 to schedule make-up days in the event that the district would have more cancellations.
The Ohio Revised Code requires that schools meet a minimum of 182 days. Only five days may be excused for calamities such as storms.
The remnants of Hurricane Ike closed Reynoldsburg schools for three days last month. The high school remained closed a fourth day due to lack of power.
The district is required by the state to identify five make-up days in case it uses all five of the excused days, superintendent Stephen Dackin said.
One tentative date for a make-up day is Jan. 16, which is currently scheduled for teacher in-service. If the students attend school that day, the teachers’ in-service would move to Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 18. No school is currently scheduled for Martin Luther King Day.
Feb. 16 is another possibility, as would the last two Saturdays in March, board president Cheryl Max said.
"Newark did Saturday school last year," Max said. "It was very successful attendance-wise and it was received well by parents and the community."
"I am all for Saturdays," treasurer Mitchell Biederman said, "That would be a vacation day for me and my wife."
The board planned to schedule the days after the most probable months for snow cancellations, but before the proficiency exams in the spring.
Before the board sets dates, especially in regards to Saturdays, Max recommended they check that for possible conflicts with athletic tournaments or ACT and SAT testing.
"The deadline (to schedule possible make-up days) is technically Sept. 1," Dackin said. "It has not been an issue in the past; however, after a hurricane, suddenly these things come into play."
The board also plans to select make-up days for the 2009-2010 school year.
The district will not stay open in severe weather regardless how many calamity days it has available, Max said.
"Safety is always first and foremost," Dackin agreed.
"We always err on the side of safety," Max said.
