In case of delays, Thursday dismissal will be at regular time.

During the unusually snowy winter of 2006, the Central Kitsap School District (CKSD) cancelled six days of classes, which almost resulted in the 2005-06 school year being extended more than a week.

Fortunately, the district received a waiver from the state and wasn’t forced to make up those lost days, but that heavy dose of snow from Mother Nature got CKSD officials thinking about how to prepare for the next big winter blast.

The district recently announced its new plans for Thursday classes in case the start of classes is delayed due to inclement weather or icy roads.

Now instead of schools having early dismissal on Thursday when classes are delayed, students will be released at the normally scheduled time, CKSD Executive Director of Human Resources Jeanne Beckon said.

“On that year (2006), two of the days were Thursdays,” Beckon said, noting that because of early dismissal, classes on those days were cancelled instead of starting late.

With that in mind, the district staff developed the idea of extending classes on Thursday when there are weather-related delays, she said.

“Instead of having to cancel school, it gives us a full instructional day,” she said.

Before the new policy was adopted, Beckon said the district solicited input from parents through a variety of means including the district’s Web site.

“The responses were overwhelming positive, and a lot of people said they wondered why we hadn’t thought of this before,” she said.

For more information about each school’s release times, visit the district’s Web site at www.cksd.wednet.edu.