School districts starting to tally days, hours

GREEN BAY - As some school districts in Northeast Wisconsin close because of the weather, others are looking at what might lie in store if Old Man Winter continues to show his face.

Six districts – from Luxemburg-Casco south to Kiel – canceled school Tuesday.

For some, it's the third time this year; other districts were delayed. And that means students could see extra days tacked on to the end of the school year.

"By the end of the year, they have to report to us how many days of instruction have been held and how many hours of instruction were held, by grade level," explained Patrick Gasper, communications officer for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in a phone interview with FOX 11.

The state requires schools to schedule 180 days of instruction. Of those days, five can be used for conferences or school cancellations because of weather.

Administrators can cancel school because of a threat to student and employee safety or health, but not because of the weather. Cancellations for safety don't count against the 180 day total.

Within those days, districts must meet a minimum number of instruction hours: 437 hours for Kindergarten, 1,050 for grades 1-6 and 1,137 for 7-12.

But some districts – like Green Bay – are on the verge of requiring additional days.

"We are still on track to fulfill the DPI requirements,” said Kim Pahlow, assistant superintendent for the Green Bay Area Public Schools in a phone interview. “If we do get one more snow day, we will have to make that snow day up. It's always about safety. Not about whether or not we have to make up those days."

Pahlow says the district does schedule extra instruction days and hours into the calendar, counting the built-in snow day. Other districts, like Howard-Suamico plan for two days.

FOX 11 asked Pahlow why Green Bay uses just one. She said the district may look at adding more snow days to the calendar, especially if it sees more closings before the end of the school year.