After the ice storm left various Independent School Districts (ISD) closed, Richardson ISD announced during a Thursday Board of Trustees meeting that there would be an additional day of instruction to make it up.
Superintendent Tabitha Branum said during the meeting that this day, specifically set aside for winter weather, would be used to make up the days missed from January 31 to February 3.
“If we have any other inclement weather situations or any other closures, it’s important for the community to know that we would have to look at that April 7 [date],” Branum said during the meeting. “Otherwise, we would have to potentially consider adding additional minutes [to the school days].”
Richardson ISD is supposed to have at least 75,600 minutes of instruction during the year, according to Texas state regulations.
ISDs such as Richardson purposefully include more than the required minutes in school days to make up for any potentially missed days due to weather.
According to the district, two of the days missed during the ice storm are already accounted for thanks to this method.
Meanwhile, February 20 is still considered a student holiday, and students will also get a week off in March as planned.
Employees will be compensated, according to the announcement during Thursday’s meeting, for the four school closures due to weather this year. A similar policy was enacted last year when there were necessary school closures due to weather.
Most of the major school districts were closed at the end of January and the beginning of February due to the historic ice storm, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Power outages were commonplace during that time period as well as freezing temperatures and, naturally, increased amounts of school closures. Thousands of flights were either delayed or canceled at DFW Airport and Love Field Airport.