Snow Affecting Some School Calendars
/By Carina Livoti
info@longislandergroup.com
Large quantities of snowfall these past couple of weeks have caused some local schools to alter their calendars to accommodate for school days missed.
The recent deluge of snow has Huntington schools digging themselves not only out of ice, but out of missed days of class. Fortunately, most districts in the area were well prepared for inclement weather long before the polar vortex reared its ugly head.
Records indicate that parts of Huntington were hit with over 20 inches of snow on Jan 27 alone. As the snow has continued, most Huntington districts have had between two and four closures so far this winter.
Huntington School District is making use of existing contingency plans. According to the Huntington School District’s public information coordinator, Jim Hoops, “The district had two contingency days built into the calendar; May 22 and April 10. There will now be school on those days as well as on April 9.”
The Cold Spring Harbor Board of Education amended the calendar at their Feb. 10 meeting, adding a Superintendent’s Conference Day for faculty and staff on Jun. 26. Should the school need to close for any additional days, the April recess will be shortened, beginning with April 10, a district representative said.
Meanwhile, in South Huntington, on Feb. 12 the school board decided that the three emergency closing days that were used so far will not result in changes to the current vacation calendar. The board also allowed for one additional emergency closing date without any modification to the remaining school vacations. However, a second school closure would result in classes being held Thursday, April 2.
St. Anthony’s High School Public Relations Director Christina Buehler said that traditionally the school has “rescinded the Ascension Thursday Holy Day and the adjoining Friday” days off in May. She added that “this may likely happen again this year.”
As of last week, the Commack and Elwood school districts have yet to exceed their allotted snow day limit, meaning that their calendars remained unchanged, according to district spokespeople. The Elwood School District added that they have not decided what will happen if they do pass the limit as the winter progresses.
Northport-East Northport is making use of existing contingency plans. Northport will now have school on May 22 and 26, both of which were built into the calendar as potential make-up days.
