LCPS schedules Hurricane Irene makeup

Last school year, several instances of winter weather forced Lenoir County Schools to use the bulk of its make-up days. While the unseasonably warm winter this year has been friendlier in terms of keeping students in class in 2011-12, Hurricane Irene, and the four days — six days at Rochelle Middle School — of instruction missed during the first full week of school are still proving burdensome for local officials.

After waiting nearly five months for an answer from the N.C. General Assembly about having the missed days waived, Interim Superintendent Steve Mazingo informed the Board of Education last week it should prepare to make up the days.

The state compulsory attendance laws require the school calendar to include a minimum of 180 days and 1,000 hours of instruction. The system made up two days during the first semester — Sept. 10 and Nov. 23 — and have marked Feb. 24 and March 30 as the third and fourth make-up days.

Five missed days were waived for Greene County Schools last year after a tornado destroyed Greene County Middle School in April.

This year’s request has not yet gone before the General Assembly.

“The superintendents were encouraged to submit waivers and we followed that to the letter,” Mazingo said. “(Missed days are regulated) by legislation, so it’s something they can take care of … but no one has given anyone an answer. I recently talked to the state superintendent, and she recommended that we go ahead and make arrangements to make up these days before we run out of opportunities.”

The new calendar means the schools will be opened every weekday from Jan. 24 to April 5 — 53 straight days. 

Associate Superintendent Diane Lynch said Rochelle, which missed an additional two days due to roof damage, will be in session for a 54th day, as class will be in session on April 6 — originally scheduled as the first day of spring break.

The Saturday following Memorial Day, June 2, will be Rochelle’s final makeup day, which has left some parents wondering if going to school on a Saturday five days before the end of the year will be effective.

“We’re in this crunch because (the state) doesn’t allow enough time on the calendar,” Perry Miller, the mother of a Rochelle eighth-grader, said.

She added, “The end of grade tests are over and the grades have already been made. What are they going to gain?”

The only days remaining on the calendar for potential makeup opportunities are April 9-13 — spring break.

Shon Myers, whose son is a seventh grade student at Rochelle, believes all of the days should be made up, although she admits it is an inconvienence.

“They need as many days as they can get, I don’t mind at all,” she said. “With my work schedule, going to school on Saturday is hectic, but I’ll make it work.

Mazingo said the waiver could be answered by the General Assembly and if it is, the board will have a chance to re-address the make-up days.

“I would be very happy to do that, but we’re just running out of time,” he said.

Justin Hill can be reached at 252-559-1078 or jhill@freedomenc.com. Follow him on Twitter @mjhill.

Breakout:

Hurricane Irene make-up days for Lenoir County Schools

n Feb. 24

n March 30

n Additional days for Rochelle Middle School — April 6 and June 2