After a week of closures due to icy weather and poor road conditions that closed area schools, Lowndes County School District confirmed it will not make up those missed days.
For Columbus Municipal School District and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, the issue is still up in the air.
State law dictates all public schools must meet a minimum of 180 days in session during each school year. In cases of extreme weather when the governor declares a state of emergency, as Gov. Tate Reeves did last week, the State Board of Education may allow districts to operate at fewer instructional days at the request of local school boards.
LCSD Public Information Officer Adam Minichino told The Dispatch on Monday the district had opted not to make up the days, since board policy gives the superintendent authority to cancel school when the weather is a potential hazard.
CMSD has a similar policy, Superintendent Stanley Ellis said, but the school board has yet to decide how to proceed. It next meets Feb. 12.
“We will work with our school board as we navigate through this process,” CMSD Superintendent Stanley Ellis said in an email. “Based on our policy AFC (Authority for Emergency Closing), we have some latitude since Gov. Tate Reeves declared it a state of emergency.”
SOCSD Director of Communications Haley Montgomery said there is not a timeline yet for when the district will decide on whether to make up the days, but the superintendent and school board will “work closely under the guidance of MDE for how they would like the days to be addressed.”
“We are thankful the governor was able to put a State of Emergency declaration in place in preparation for the severe winter weather,” Montgomery said. “Starkville Oktibbeha School District will be reviewing our options to determine any need for make-up days.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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