Local school districts that called off school last week because of flooding don’t have to make those days up, thanks to waivers from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Ten local school districts canceled classes, anywhere from one to five days, because flood-related road closures made it difficult to transport students and virtually impossible for teachers and staff members who live north of Jefferson County to make it to work.
Only two Jefferson County school districts – Crystal City and Jefferson R-7 – did not call off school because of flooding
The DESE waivers apply just to the districts’ flood days, and not for snow cancellations earlier in the school year. Local school districts did not seek waivers to have those days forgiven and have to make them up.
In Missouri, public school districts must have at least 174 instructional days, so if districts had been required to make up flood days, they would have had to extend the school year beyond what already had been scheduled to compensate for snow days.
Since the waivers were approved, though, area districts don’t have to make up the flood days and are holding their last day of school either this week or next.
Fox
The Fox C-6 School District canceled school May 2-5 because of flooding. The district also had two snow days this school year.
DESE approved a waiver for the four flood days. So, the district’s last day of school for students is Friday, May 19, and they will be released early that day.
Windsor
Three days of classes were called off at the Windsor C-1 School District because of flooding. In addition, the district had two snow days this school year.
Windsor’s last day of school is Thursday, May 18, which will be a half day.
Northwest
Students in the Northwest R-1 School District missed four days of school because of the recent flooding. In addition, the district lost two days in January due to inclement weather.
The waiver only forgives the four flood days, and the last day of school for all students in the Northwest District will be Tuesday, May 16, an early-release day.
Dunklin
The Dunklin R-5 School District canceled two days of classes because of flooding. The district also had two snow days.
Dunklin students’ last day will be May 19, which will be a half day.
Crystal City
School was not called off at the Crystal City School District because of flooding, so it did not apply for a waiver.
The district had two snow days earlier in the year, and its last day of school for students is today (May 12). It’s an early-release day.
Jefferson R-7
Like Crystal City, the Jefferson R-7 School District had no days off for the flooding.
It did, however, have three snow days, which had to be made up.
So, the last day of school at Jefferson R-7 is Wednesday, May 17, a half day.
Festus
The Festus R-6 School District had two flood days and two snow days. Only the snow days had to be made up because of the DESE waiver for the flood days.
Festus students’ last day of school will be Tuesday, May 23, which will be a half day.
Hillsboro R-3
Like Festus, the Hillsboro R-3 School District had two days off because of flooding.
However, Hillsboro had twice as many snow days – four of them. Two of those snow days were made up in April and the last two were added onto the end of the year. So, the last day of school at Hillsboro is Monday, May 22, an early-release day.
De Soto
The De Soto School District canceled classes for two days last week because of the flooding, but got a waiver for those.
It also had three snow days, which meant three days were added to the end of the year. The students’ last day of school is Wednesday, May 17, and it will be a half day.
Grandview
The Grandview R-2 School District canceled three days of school last week because of the flooding. In addition, it had four snow days earlier in the school year.
Students’ last day at Grandview will be Thursday, May 18, a half day.
Sunrise
At the Sunrise R-9 School District, one day of class was canceled because of flooding. The district also called off classes for three days earlier in the school year because of snow and another two days because of excessive sicknesses among the students and staff.
The district did not seek a waiver for its flood day and added the makeup day at the end of the year, along with the makeup days for the snow and sick days. The district’s last day was Thursday (May 11).
Eureka
Classes were canceled all five days last week at Rockwood School District’s Eureka-area schools because of flooding in the area. In addition, the district had two snow days.
Only the snow days had to be made up, though, so the last day of school at Eureka High School and the other Eureka-area schools, like the rest of the schools in the Rockwood district, will be May 25, which is an early-release day for middle and elementary school districts.