Districts Consider Calamity Options

CENTRAL OHIO -- Severe winter weather and last fall's wind storm led to school closings that could mean a longer school year for Central Ohio students.

NBC 4's Mikaela Hunt GOT ANSWERS on the options some local districts were considering.

Ohio allows each district five calamity days and requires schools to put five contingency days above that in calendar.

Each district is allowed five calamity days and can take those five days without penalty or need to make up.

Many of the 25 largest school districts in Central Ohio have already used four of their calamity days so far -- if not all five.

After a district uses all five of its calamity days, it has five scheduled contingency days.

The problem this year didn't start during the winter, but rather blew into many districts with September's wind storm.

The wind damage from Hurricane Ike cut power to thousands, meaning that school was out to just as many kids, including Upper Arlington.

"This is just a tougher winter than we've had before," said Paul Craft, executive director for business services in Upper Arlington School District.

Craft said that because of the wind storm and snow storm, the district has used four of its calamity days, leaving it with one left until it has to bring kids in for contingency days.

Contingency days are scheduled as make-up days for having to take the sixth-10th calamity day they may or may not take due to inclement weather.

Districts can shorten spring break, schedule Saturday sessions or lengthen the school year with contingency days to make up days beyond those first five calamity days.

When districts reach a 10th missed day of classes, a new law comes into play.

The state legislature passed a law last year allowing districts to make up lost time in half-hour blocks at the end of a school day after a district exceeds its five calamity days and five scheduled contingency days.

EXTRA: List of Calamity Days Remaining For Local Schools

Ohio Department of Education Question & Answer
Q: What happens if one of a district’s contingency days passes before the district finds itself needing it? For instance, if a district has the Martin Luther King Holiday on its contingency day plan, but does not exceed five calamity days prior to that date – and so does not schedule it for use?

A: In this case, the district cannot schedule and commit to the use of the day – since it is in the past. Therefore, the district must designate an additional contingency day. (The intent of the law seems to be to expect a district to schedule and commit to make up five full days before the strategy of adding half-hour increments can be used.)

Q: What if a district’s day is already longer than the statutory minimum? Can the district count the already scheduled time included in the longer day as applicable toward the amount of time to be made up beyond the first 10 days?

A: No. The statute says “may increase the length of one or more other school days” which is taken to mean the increase must be above whatever the district has established as the standard length of day for each building. However, the district need only add enough increments to make
up the minimum number of hours in a day required by state law and rule (5 hours for elementary schools – grades 1-6; 5.5 hours for middle and high schools – grades 7-12) for the day that is cancelled.

Q: What happens in the case where a building or morning kindergarten classes have a different number of calamity days than the entire district?

A: In these cases, the building or the morning kindergarten classes will consume calamity days and contingency days faster and could be in a position of adding time to the day before the rest of the district gets to that point. These cases would be handled in generally the same manner as they are now – that is, that each building can use calamity days and contingency days and now extended days to accommodate a building’s or program’s own particular circumstances.

Q: What if the district wants to add a whole hour to certain days?

A: This is acceptable; however, the time added must be in increments of one-half hour. So a district can add 0.5 hour, 1 hour, 1.5 hours, etc. Extending the day by 45 minutes would not be permitted.

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