District Considering Whether To Make Up Missed School Days

CANTON, GA — The two winter weather systems that churched across north and central Georgia this month forced the Cherokee County School District to cancel classes for four days due to hazardous conditions created by snow and ice.

Now that the weather has stabilized (by Georgia standards), district officials are now pondering if they should make up that lost time. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower and school board members discussed this week's situation at the board's Jan. 19 meeting, which had to be rescheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. due to the weather.

Cherokee County is what's known as a Strategic Waiver School System, which allows a district to operate under the terms of a contract between the State Board of Education and its local counterpart. According to the Georgia Department of Education's website, the system receives "flexibility in the form of waivers of certain state laws, rules and guidelines in exchange for greater accountability for increased student performance."

The district's contract allows it to deviate from state requirements for school days, but any final decision on whether to make up missed days is left for the local superintendent and elected officials to decide. It should be noted that all staff members are required to make up missed days of work.

Dr. Hightower told board members he will meet with his senior staff members on Friday to go over options, and "promptly share his recommendations" with the board to gather feedback before announcing the plan to employees and parents, the district said Friday. That could come as soon as Monday.

While the system closed up shop for the majority of the week, things appeared to be returning to normal late Friday, as the system announced most extracurricular activities scheduled for today and this weekend would proceed as scheduled. Those activities include middle school basketball games; Cherokee and Sequoyah high school basketball games; the high school wrestling tournament; and the River Ridge High School's performance of “The Crucible.”

However, the district's Technology Fair scheduled for Jan. 20 has been moved to Saturday, Feb. 3. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at River Ridge High School. Cherokee Youth Basketball, a community program that uses district facilities, has announced its plans to hold weekend games as scheduled. For any other events, please contact the appropriate coach/advisor for status updates.

Image via Shutterstock