Region 17 Cancels February Vacation for Students

Haddam and Killingworth students will have no school vacation this month as administrators scramble to find a way to make up for lost days due to inclement weather.

In a unanimous vote Monday, the Region 17 Board of Education agreed to suspend this year’s February vacation to help make up school cancelations due to snow.

While students will still have President’s Day off, the other four days of February vacation will be full school days.

Already this year, students have had seven snow cancelations and not a single full week of school since Christmas vacation.

“In a typical season, we have two [snow days],” explained School Superintendent Gary Mala at Monday’s Board of Education meeting. This year already the district has had nearly four times as many.

Originally Mala was considering suggesting that the board take away the first two days in April vacation, then a new batch of snowstorms made him change his mind.

“I made this decision based on the best interests of the students,” Mala explained to the board. If days were taken out of April vacation, students at area schools would not have had a significant break all the way from February to the end the of the school year in June. With the suspension of February vacation and in the absence of anymore snow days, school will end on June 21, with the exception of Burr School, which will have its last day on June 22.

Any additional snow days will be tacked on to the end of the year. Once the six remaining days at the end of June run out, additional make-up days could be added to April vacation.

If available days in April vacation run out, Mala explained, the board can then consider whether or not to amend its requirement for 182 school days each year. The state requires 180 days.

“I totally agree with this decision,” argued Board member Robin Chasse before casting her vote in favor of amending the school calendar to suspend February vacation. “This is an extraordinary year.”

She did express reluctance, however, to add makeup days at the end of the year in June, feeling that such makeup days at the end of the year are far less productive academically then makeup days in February or April.

According to Mala, the number of days already missed due to snow is “unprecedented.” “We have never seen this,” he explained.

Board member James Lippert was able to find some silver lining in all the gloom.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Lippert joked at Monday’s meeting, “Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow.”