Enjoy the snow, kids. It may get you out of school this week, but it also may keep you in class longer for makeup days once the weather warms up.
This is especially true in Tacoma, where snow days will mean extra time tacked onto the end of an already-lengthened academic year.
There’s little wiggle room left in the Tacoma Public Schools calendar because of the eight-day teacher strike last September.
Pierce County’s next-largest school districts, Puyallup and Bethel, have a little more flexibility in their schedules. Puyallup has snow makeup days set aside to be used, if needed, in March, May and June. Bethel has one set aside in February and one in May to be used in case of inclement weather.
South Sound districts typically plan ahead for bad weather by building a few potential makeup days into their calendars. The Tacoma district designated three days – in February, May and June – for that purpose, but they were converted to regular school days after the teacher strike.
The days now designated to be used if necessary as snow makeups are June 20-22. Even without snow, the school year had already been stretched by a full week to make up for five strike days.
Once upon a time, before the school year started, the last day was supposed to fall on June 12.
Estimating how many snow makeup days to build into the calendar is an inexact science. In the Bethel district, which is based in Spanaway and covers more than 200 square miles, officials typically designate two days, said Krista Carlson, district spokeswoman.
But “some years we may have zero need for snow days,” Carlson said. “It’s completely contingent on the weather systems we get.”
Many South Sound districts delayed or canceled classes Tuesday, and school leaders were bracing for more bad weather today. By 4 p.m., Puyallup and Franklin Pierce already had decided to close schools today.
Tacoma hadn’t yet decided, and the district’s Facebook page was filled with queries Tuesday.
District spokesman Dan Voelpel said decisions about delays and closures aren’t based on weather forecasts alone. District transportation workers drive the roads, typically very early in the morning, and report to the superintendent, he said.
Conditions outside Tacoma are also considered, because some school staff members commute to work, he said.
“We like to look at the whole picture,” he said.
Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058 sara.schilling @thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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