COLUMBUS—State Representatives Casey Kozlowski (R-Pierpont) and John Carey (R-Wellston) recently introduced legislation that, when enacted, would increase the number of calamity days that school districts are allocated each year.
In the past, the first five calamity days of each school year were excused and school districts made up calamity days beyond the fifth. As a result of an amendment to House Bill 1 during the 128th General Assembly, only three calamity days are now excused beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, and many districts have already used all available calamity days because of recent snow storms.
To resolve this issue, House Bill 36 will restore the number of excusable calamity days to five, which would take effect immediately and allow two additional calamity days for the remainder of the 2010-2011 school year. It will also allow schools the flexibility to make up calamity days by lengthening the school day in 30-minute increments.
“With Ohio’s ever-changing weather and thousands of miles of rural routes, our local school superintendents and transportation directors should have the power to decide whether to hold classes during the winter,” said Rep. Kozlowski, who previously served as president of the Pymatuning Valley Board of Education. “House Bill 36 gives local school districts another tool for their toolboxes as they decide for themselves which method of dealing with calamity days works best for them.”
“We should not be putting Ohio’s children at risk by forcing them to travel in dangerous conditions, and the state should certainly not be mandating to the local officials,” said Rep. Carey. “I hope that this legislation will move quickly through the Legislature as we face yet another blustery Ohio winter.”
House Bill 36 will now be referred to a House committee, where it will undergo further debate and deliberation.
In the past, the first five calamity days of each school year were excused and school districts made up calamity days beyond the fifth. As a result of an amendment to House Bill 1 during the 128th General Assembly, only three calamity days are now excused beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, and many districts have already used all available calamity days because of recent snow storms.
To resolve this issue, House Bill 36 will restore the number of excusable calamity days to five, which would take effect immediately and allow two additional calamity days for the remainder of the 2010-2011 school year. It will also allow schools the flexibility to make up calamity days by lengthening the school day in 30-minute increments.
“With Ohio’s ever-changing weather and thousands of miles of rural routes, our local school superintendents and transportation directors should have the power to decide whether to hold classes during the winter,” said Rep. Kozlowski, who previously served as president of the Pymatuning Valley Board of Education. “House Bill 36 gives local school districts another tool for their toolboxes as they decide for themselves which method of dealing with calamity days works best for them.”
“We should not be putting Ohio’s children at risk by forcing them to travel in dangerous conditions, and the state should certainly not be mandating to the local officials,” said Rep. Carey. “I hope that this legislation will move quickly through the Legislature as we face yet another blustery Ohio winter.”
House Bill 36 will now be referred to a House committee, where it will undergo further debate and deliberation.
10 comments:
Wonderful news! PLEASE pass this bill! 3 days is simply not enough when you consider the safety of childrn and school buses!
This is bad public policy as the school year is already too short. A better approach would be to extend the school year to 195 days with the extra 10 days dedicated to calamity days, teacher collaboration time and/or professional development. To be sure, children should be kept safe, but there is no reason why teachers should not receive professional development during these days or alternatively, use the time to collaborate with colleagues. Currently, these activities are carved out of student contact time, so this would be a win-win.
Thank you for introducing this legislation! Glad to see a return to "common sense"! :)
Five calamity days never hurt us in the past, I hope this bill passes. Safety of our children first.
This is great news because my school has already exhusted it's three calamity days and we are supposed to get hit bad tonight through Wednesday.
Marc Schare...why does the American public constantly vent their frustrations on teachers?
Not too many career areas are expected to do and work more for less or nothing. Let's place the blame for the problems of our schools where it belongs: A decrease in real parenting; intrusive ignorant politicians, increasing attitudes of "entitlement" and societal degradation. It's funny how our schools have only gotten better, but yet they are "worse than ever".
I am thrilled they are considering this! I want the kids to be safe, as well as myself! I live 30 minutes away from my school district and sometimes it is too treacherous for ANYONE to be out and on the roads! I also like the flexibility in how we make up our days. Adding days at the end does not make a difference in the learning and preparing for the state tests.
As a school teacher, I am so relieved to hear that this bill has been introduced. We need to be realistic about the weather in Ohio and 3 days is just not enough. As of today we are already over our number of calamity days and we still have 2-3 more months where snow days are possible. Two days should not make or break curriculum in the classroom. While education needs more support this is not the way to do it, by reducing our calamity days. It is a band-aid to a much larger issue. Thank you for introducing this bill, I sincerely hope that it passes.
Thank you for your work on this bill. Please do all that you can to see that it passes without delay. Here in Wayne County, all school districts have already used up their calamity days. At least one district had already used two days in September due to the tornado that devastated our area. Five calamity days should be the minimum. Three days are ridiculously few and unrealistic for Ohio. I also appreciate the flexibility to make up hours, rather than adding full days onto the end of the year (when nothing really gets accomplished anyway) or taking vacation days away from spring break. That is doable and truly innovative. I hope HB36 passes well before decisions about spring break must be made.
I do hope this passes. The advantages of "saving or adding" 5 days of school is not comparable to the risk of sending kids to school in bad weather. Sure, the districts can cancel school either way, but I'm sure the pressure to send kids even in bad weather is stronger if we have 0 calamity days available. Living in Ohio, we all know the odds of canceling school at some point due to weather are very high. I would like to see the safety of the kids put first.
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