Francis Howell School District Adds Extra Snow Days to Next Year's Calendar

Next year's school calendar in the Francis Howell School District will have 10 scheduled snow days after a particularly snowy winter this year forced the district to realign breaks.

District Director of Human Resources Steven Griggs said he hopes the District won’t have to use the four extra days built into the schedule, but at least it will make planning easier should St. Charles County get hit by heavy snow. The Francis Howell Board of Education approved the longer calendar with a 6-0 vote.

Board member Mark Lafata was absent from the meeting.

Next year will be the first in which all of the district schools are on the same calendar. The district decided to do away with a year-round schedule for elementary schools last year.

The first day of the 2011-12 school year will be Aug. 8 and the last day is scheduled for May 23, 2012. If the District uses all 10 snow days, the year would end June 1, 2012 for all students. See the full schedule here.

Code of Conduct Approved As Presented

several parents and board members said the proposed codes of conduct for the district were too long. 

Board member Mike Hoehn had questions about the reasoning behind have several codes. Board member Amy McEvoy wondered whether the codes could be simpler and easier to understand.

Codes of conduct in area districts differ on presentation, and wording. Punishment for truancy and bullying in the Francis Howell, St. Charles and Rockwood school districts is different for each district.

Superintendant Pam Sloan said that the code is a living document that is always up for debate and changes. She said the code would go to the strategic planning committee to see if anything else needs to be ironed out.

Thursday night, the Board approved the code of conduct, as proposed, with a 6-0 vote.

The Board also approved five service contracts for next year. The Board agreed to deals with the following groups:

Excel Sports and Physical Therapy, which provides certified athletic trainers at selected activities.

• Express Medical Transporters, Inc., Missouri's largest transportation company specializing in non-emergency transportation
• First Student, Inc., which provides transportation for the District.
• Sentry Security Agency, Inc., which provides security guards at the schools during the day and for special events.
• Sodexho, Inc., which supplies meals for students.

The next Board of Education meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on June 16.