The wild wind, snow and ice storms that have hit North Kitsap this fall and winter have had not only working parents scrambling to reschedule their time but also the teachers and staff in the North Kitsap School District, who are working together to come up with a make-up schedule for the five days of school that were cancelled.
The district school schedule does not have inclement weather days worked into it and so to meet the state’s required number of school days, the missed days will have to be made up and the school year extended by one day.
Instead of stretching the school year into the last week of June, NKSD Community Relations Director Chris Case said the district has come up with a tentative plan that includes having students attend half-days on days that were previously scheduled with no classes during full-day Learning Improvement Days for teachers and staff.
To make up days, students will attend school for half-days Feb. 16, March 23, May 7 and June 20. Morning kindergarten students will attend all of these; afternoon kindergarten students will not attend. Elementary students will be dismissed at noon; secondary students at 10:40 a.m.
Dates for graduation and spring break will not change.
Learning Improvement Days are used for professional development and collaborative work, and include planning for the transitions next year when the Kingston High School opens and Kingston Junior High becomes Kingston Middle School.
During the remainder of this school year, teachers and staff have agreed to give up half of their development time on the Learning Improvement Days so students can attend half-days and make up for days missed, Case said. The state allows districts to count half a day of instruction as a full day.
“It’s not an ideal compromise because students would get less time in the classroom and teachers also less training time,” Case explained. “It does allow us to end school very close to the date we had originally planned.
Many school districts across the state are facing the same dilemma and the state school superintendent’s office has requested a waiver for school days canceled after the Dec. 15 windstorm when Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency. Case said NKSD is still negotiating with the state on whether the waiver can be applied to North Kitsap.
The tentative schedule is listed here; when it’s finalized, the district will send out a revised school calendar for the remainder of the school year to all families with students in the district, and broadcast it through the district e-mail notification system.
“Let’s hope that snow doesn’t keep falling and we have no more snow days. Hopefully we’ll know if we qualify for the state’s day soon and we can let (parents) know a more final schedule.”
Tentative NKSD Inclement Weather Make-Up Schedule
(Note: This schedule is tentative and subject to change. The final schedule will be mailed to all parents and guardians, and broadcast through the district’s e-mail notification system. Learning Improvement Days referred to below are for school staff who use the time for professional development and collaborative work.)
Feb. 16: Morning – Student half-day of school
Afternoon – Learning Improvement Day
March 23: Morning – Student half-day of school
Afternoon – Learning Improvement Day
May 7: Morning – Student half-day of school
Afternoon – Learning Improvement Day
June 19: Full day of school for students
June 20: Morning – Student half-day of school (last day of school)
Afternoon – Learning Improvement Day
June 21: Learning Improvement Day
June 22: Learning Improvement Day
