Board of Ed. Plans Snow Day Make Up

The Suffield Board of Education approved a tentative plan to make up for the snow days the school system has endured this year. 

The plan, proposed by board member Lori D’Ostuni, will keep students in school through June 17 and allow seniors to graduate on time. Students will also attend school on April 18 through April 20, days that will be removed from April vacation. The February break will not change.

The plan makes up for five snow days. Suffield High School and Middle School both have six total days to make up, while McAlister and Spaulding Schools have seven.

Board members had a protracted discussion at their meeting Tuesday night at about how to accommodate the snow days within the academic schedule. Various plans of how to add days to the calendar were presented as the board weighed the planned date of Suffield High School’s graduation ceremony, possible reductions to April vacation and which, if any, missed days should be forgiven on the schedule.

Mary Greenlaw-Dixon, interim superintendent of Suffield schools, said she had discussed how to best make the necessary schedule changes with administrators at each school, but a consensus was not reached.

Greenlaw-Dixon said scheduling additional days of class on Saturdays or extending the academic day, both relatively simple solutions that would not lengthen the school year, were not possible under state regulations.

Neha Mehta, the high school’s student representative to the board, said the overwhelming opinion of seniors at the high school was to keep graduation on the same date if possible. Board members considered her comments, which were given at the beginning of the meeting, during their deliberation. 

“My priority is to keep graduation where it is,” board member Jeanne Gee said.

Suffield’s academic calendar has 183 class days, three more than the 180 required by state law. Those extra days provide some flexibility in rescheduling to make up for snow days.

The plan will have to change if more snow days come before the end of winter.