February’s snow days mean more school for Portland Public Schools students in June.
The district announced Thursday that its students will return to class on June 10 and 11 because of the instructional hours lost to inclement weather in February. The threat of snow shuttered district schools on Feb. 5 and Feb. 27 and triggered late starts on Feb. 25 and 26.
On top of that, Superintendent for Instruction and School Communities Yvonne Curtis said in a letter to parents that the district is keeping its eyes on a rally planned for the state Capitol May 8 that could draw enough teachers to warrant shuttering some schools for the day.
“If projected absences reach a point where we cannot confidently offer a safe and meaningful instructional day to students, we will announce a districtwide closure for May 8 and make up that instructional day for grades PK-11 on June 12, with an alternate plan for seniors,” Curtis wrote.
District spokesman Harry Esteve also said the district is still working out how to restore hours for seniors, since they graduate before the school year ends. And because of the late opening of Beverly Cleary, the district is asking the state for a waiver to the instructional hour requirement for that school’s kindergarteners.
When the 2018-19 academic calendar was approved by the Portland school board last year, the district had set aside three days in June – June 10, 11 and 12 -- in case classes were delayed or cancelled due to weather.
Even though February’s snowfall didn’t quite blanket the ground in Portland proper — the suburbs got the most of it and Oregon towns and cities south of Salem were particularly hard-hit — it was enough for Portland school officials to alter the schedule.
--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344
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