Many North Texas students likely welcomed this week’s surprise blitz of freezing winter weather, but some could be paying for it later through longer school days and makeup days at the end of the semester.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, ice accumulation from intermittent freezing rain prompted dozens of school districts across the region to close their campuses for at least three days and counting.
Some districts, like Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, released students early on Monday, which could further add to the classroom time needed before the school year can end, per state law.
Students in Texas public schools and charter schools are required to spend a minimum of 75,600 minutes (including passing periods and recess) in class each school year. School systems can be penalized if they do not follow this guideline.
“Districts and charter schools that do not meet the requirement will have their funding reduced proportionately to the number of minutes they fell short of the 75,600 minutes requirement,” according to the Texas Education Agency, the state’s regulating body for public education.
At Crowley ISD, which is almost out of free snow days to cover additional shutdowns, school officials have already started pre-planning for potential weather disruptions later in the winter season.
“We’re pushing it three days in a row. If we have any other kind of weather event we have to start thinking about how we recoup that instructional time,” said Superintendent Michael McFarland, speaking with NBC 5.
“We’ll definitely have to start using some form of virtual education if kids are home for some extended period of time. Hopefully, we won’t have to do that, but we’re preparing just in case we do,” he said.
While this recent bout of frigid temperatures and icy roads may be drawing to a close, as The Dallas Express reported, Texans know there are no guarantees on the weather this time of year.
The Dallas Express reached out to multiple local school districts and asked about their plans for managing the remainder of their class-time calendars but received no response by press time.
