WCS Settles Make Up Day Schedule
During Warsaw Community School Corporation’s monthly, regular board meeting, WCS Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz discussed the school’s plan regarding how to best make up missed school days for the recent cold and snowy weather that has plagued the county.
According to Hintz, as it stands now the last student school day will be on Wednesday, June 4, with the last teacher work day set for June 5. Summer school will then follow on June 9, with graduation set at its original date of 7 p.m. Friday, June 6, in the Tiger Den.
Hintz noted the school corporation utilized the three make up days built into the calendar and one waiver day provided by the Indiana Department of Education. The remaining three missed days were added to the end of the student calendar. Though many schools are taking advantage of the IDOE “conditional waiver,” which would allow schools to tack on an extra hour in the morning or afternoons to make up missed days, Hintz said he did not believe this was a viable option for students who board buses at 6:30 a.m. and arrive home at 4:30 p.m.
“Many area schools are participating in the waiver, but we have some students getting on buses at 6:30 a.m. and if we extend by an hour in the morning, we would have students getting on the buses at 5:30 a.m,” explained Hintz. “Students at our elementary schools are out between 3:15 p.m. and 4 p.m., some of those students are on the bus for an hour, which would have them arriving home at 5:30. If we think of an all-day kindergarten student who got on the bus at 8 a.m. and won’t get home till 5:30 p.m. … that is a long day.
“I did hear of a system that is making up an additional 20 minutes a day … but we want to stay the course right now with the calendar we have approved and published. As it stands now, we are hoping we do not have any more school closure days,” stated Hintz.