By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer
The recent spring-like temperatures have many Pulaski Countians hoping that winter is behind us — especially some parents and students who don’t want any more snow days.
Students in the three major local school districts will make up one of their missed days of school on President’s Day. Pulaski County, Science Hill Independent, and Somerset Independent school students will attend school Monday, Feb. 16, sparing themselves one extra day they would have been required to attend at the end of the school year.
That means, barring any future snow days, that the Pulaski County school district’s final day of the 2008-2009 school year will be May 28, Somerset Independent students will be released for the summer following a half-day on May 29, and students in the Science Hill Independent district will be released on May 22.
Pulaski County schools have canceled classes due to inclement weather 12 days out of the current school year, Science Hill students have missed six days, and students in the Somerset Independent district have missed two.
The Pulaski County school system, by adding 15 minutes per day to its school day, has three make-up days “built in” to its calendar, so the county only actually needs to make up nine days so far.
How are Pulaski County and Somerset Independent schools releasing at approximately the same time, if one system has to make up nine days and the other only has to make up two? At the beginning of the school year, students in the Pulaski system returned to classes on Aug. 4, while Somerset students remained on summer break until Aug. 13. The head start on the school year by Pulaski County students is proving to be helpful in light of the number of days classes have had to be canceled.
Pulaski Superintendent Tim Eaton said a survey of the principals in each of his schools unanimously revealed that attending school on Feb. 16 was preferred over attending an extra day when it’s time to begin summer break.
“We’re trying to avoid going to school in June,” Eaton said. “That’s not a good thing in Kentucky.”
Eaton said the President’s Day holiday was the school district’s “first opportunity” to make up one of its snow days. County school officials are considering the possibility of holding classes on May 5 — the day on which primary elections are held — to make up another day.
The Somerset Independent school board marked President’s Day as a “built in” make-up day when it created the 2008-2009 school calendar early last year. Attending school on President’s Day will allow Somerset students to only have to attend one extra day in May.
Somerset schools were released early once last month, and more recently, the school system experienced a one-hour delay.
“We have five emergency hours that we can use in inclement weather,” Somerset Superintendent Dr. Teresa Wallace said. Those hours were spent on the early release and the one-hour delay.
“I hope there are no more snow days,” Wallace continued. “May 29 is a Friday, so that means we could have our graduation on Friday night.”
Pulaski County and Somerset Independent students will already have to attend school past Memorial Day. Many more missed days will force students to attend school into the month of June.
At this point, Science Hill Independent students will be released before the Memorial Day holiday.
Science Hill Superintendent Rick Walker said students will have special activities to commemorate President’s Day next Monday.
