Schools doing the math to make up for lost time

Saturday classes? A shortened April vacation? Added days at the end of the school year?Snow days for local schools have accumulated along with the snowfall, prompting conversations among several local school officials about how to make up classroom time lost to shoveling.”We’re already up to nine days, which would bring us up to the 25th, deep into June,” Revere Superintendent Paul Dakin said last week. “I’m not confident we’re out of the bad weather yet.”He was right about that.School districts are required by state law to incorporate at least five days into the school year to make up for snow days. If no snow falls (or falls on non-school days), the students get out a little earlier in June. If the snow falls, the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education must grant a waiver for the district to make up missed time, in order to complete the required 180 days.This weekend’s storm made this the third-snowiest winter in Boston history, with 95.7 inches of snow recorded, according to the National Weather Service. The Weather Channel reported that 85 inches of snow had fallen within the last 23 days.But many communities – particularly larger, more urban communities – are forced to keep schools closed during not just the snowfall but during the cleanup, as sidewalks and streets need to plowed so that children can safely access school.Revere leads the local districts with having called nine snow days so far this winter. Lynn has had seven. Swampscott, Nahant and Saugus have had six.The Revere School Committee discussed Wednesday how to make up the four (as of now) days beyond its pre-scheduled makeup days. Dakin said school was scheduled to end June 12 without any snow days, and the scheduled snow days would have put students attending school until Friday, June 19.But he said that tacking four additional days on the end of the school year was not the best option for students eager for summer vacation. Eliminating or shortening April vacation or adding school on Saturdays would also interfere with students’ and teachers’ vacation and weekend plans.So Dakin proposed petitioning the secretary of education for permission to add an hour to the school day to make up the time lost to snow.For instance, Dakin explained that a day of elementary school includes six hours of classes.”We add an hour for each day for 24 days at time that gets us prime academic time, before SATs before AP exams,” Dakin said. “Students will get prime academic time during a time when it is more valuable to us than in the end of June.”Other school levels have different time requirements, so the extended days would be held for longer period, Dakin said.The Revere School Committee voted 6-0 (with one abstention) in favor of Dakin’s submitting the idea to the department of education. He said the idea also had to be approved by the teacher’s union.”It may be for naught,” Dakin said. There are no guarantees at all, but hopefully it’s a creative enough idea … it’s good for testing, good for kids, and get kids out of buildings that don’t have air conditioning before the end of June.”Swampscott has used six snow days – one more than it allotted – thereby extending their school calendar a day until Wednesday, June 24.Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said Sunday that any additional snow days would be made up by adding on days to the end of the school year until Friday, June 26. Then a provision in the teachers contract states that additional days will be taken away from April vacation, beginning with the Friday and working backwards, Angelakis explained.”I’m hoping we’ll be in good enough shape,” Angelakis said.Nahant Superintendent Philip Devaux said the town had scheduled 10 snow days into its calendar and has used only six.”I have four left in June before more draconian measures are needed,” Devaux said in an email.Saugus School Committee Member Arthur Grabowski said school cannot extend beyond June 30, so the extra snow day (and six more potential make-up days) wo