Here’s one school district’s plan for snow days. Students might not be happy

Pasco students may not get the day off next Friday like they had planned.

The school district has released a plan for making up the seven days students have missed because of snow.

School officials will discuss the plan at Tuesday’s school board meeting. The board needs to sign off on the change.

Schools normally need to meet a pair of requirements before finishing the school year. Students need to spend 180 days in class and receive an average of 1,027 hours of instruction.

While they could ask the state to waive the first requirement, there is no way to waive the second requirement. The waiver itself comes with some limitations. Districts can ask for a waiver of the five days they lost during the period that is covered under Gov. Jay Inslee’s state of emergency, but they will need to make up the other two days.

So Pasco’s first planned change is to have classes next Friday, which was supposed to be a day off. Students will also be in class on the previously planned snow days built into the district schedule, on May 24 and June 13, along with June 14.

The board is talking about asking the state to waive the three remaining days. A final decision could come as early as March 26.

School leaders don’t plan to change graduation from June 6, 7 and 8. If the district pushes classes past June 14, then seniors may need to go to class on Saturdays.

“We realize that many of you want to make your summer plans, and we will inform you as soon as final decisions are made,” Pasco leaders said in a statement on their website. “Thank you once again for your understanding during this time.”

Kennewick leaders plan to discuss snow days at the board’s Wednesday night meeting.

Richland is expected to talk about makeup days on March 26.

This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 6:47 PM.