Central Bucks School District Plans To Forgive Two Snow Days

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Central Bucks students may not have to make up the two days of class they missed in January and February due to snow storms.

Under a plan hammered out between the school board’s curriculum committee and the administration, the snow days would be forgiven and the current year’s calendar would remain unchanged.

Rather than tack the snow days onto the end of the school year or make them up during spring break or Easter Monday, the administration suggested taking advantage of House Bill 1507 passed by the legislature in December that gives school districts more flexibility in meeting its school year obligations.

The legislation allows school districts to complete the school year with less than 180 days provided they meet the minimum 900 hours of instructional hours at the elementary level and 990 hours at the secondary level.

According to acting superintendent Dr. James Scanlon, Central Bucks students would have more than enough hours to meet the requirements of the law while finishing the school year with 178 days.

Prior to the passage of the bill, school districts had to provide both a minimum of 180 days of classroom instruction plus the instructional hours. The bill was designed to give districts greater flexibility to have shorter school weeks or longer days

Without having to make up the two lost snow days, the district would be able to keep its calendar intact with a full spring break and Easter Monday off.

The calendar also sets the last day of school as June 14 and establishes Thursday, June 13 as graduation day in the district.

Administrators noted that while the snow days would be forgiven for students, contractually the district would still be obligated to pay its support staff and transportation personal for the full 180 days.

The committee still had one more issue to work out and that was, ‘What happens if it snows in March?’

After some debate, the committee recommended taking advantage of flexible instructional days and providing asynchronous learning.

The school board is expected to re-approve the current calendar at its March meeting and establish a firm graduation date and last day of school.

The district will also be notifying the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) that it would be exercising its right to use the number of hours of instruction to meet PDE’s obligation under House Bill 1507.