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Snow Day Policies Vary By District

School districts throughout the Miami Valley are working under different rules when it comes to making up snow days.
Flickr Creative Commons User Christina's Play Place

The recent weather has forced many school closures and delays. But the rules for how school districts will make up the missed days vary.

All of the nearly 40 public school districts throughout the Miami Valley were closed Tuesday. Most remained closed Wednesday and Thursday as well because of frigid temperatures. This is the second time schools have kept kids at home this winter.

A recent revision in state law changes the way districts make up those days. The old guidelines required schools to tack them on at the end of the year if they missed more than five so-called “calamity days.” But now the Ohio Department of Education is counting hours of instruction instead of days, which allows more flexibility. Though it’s only affecting certain districts right now.

For example, Centerville and Kettering city school districts are still working under the calamity days guidelines. That’s because the rules are tied to teachers’ union contracts. Those districts won’t be under the new system for another few winters when negotiations can begin.

Dayton Public Schools and Beavercreek City School districts are under the new system and have added hours to the state-mandate minimums for instructional time. Those guidelines require at least 1,001 hour of instruction for grades 7-12, 910 hours for students in full-day kindergarten through 6th grade and students in half-day kindergarten must be in the classroom for 455 hours.