Elmhurst District 205 Students Get a Freebie: No Make Up Required for 'Noah's Ark Day'

Students in Elmhurst Unit District 205 schools will not have to attend an extra day of school next month to make up for last week's flood day.

Due to an unusual turn of events, students in District 205 will finish the school year one day shy of the curricular time originally intended. At the April 10 School Board meeting, with the threat of giant snowstorms safely behind them, board members approved the end of year calendar. May 28 was determined to be the final day of school for high-schoolers, and students in early childhood, elementary and middle school would get out on May 29.

No one had counted on "Noah's Ark Day," as Superintendent David Pruneau called it, on April 18. He told the School Board Tuesday he has never in his career had to cancel school due to rain, but "this was a very unusual circumstance."

"We always (plan to) make up an emergency day before declaration of the end of the year," he said. "It's just that this act of God was so unusual."

It may sound easy just to add another day onto the already-approved calendar, but it's not. The last days of school have been published, final exams and graduation ceremonies have been scheduled and families have begun making their plans, Pruneau said.

For 2012-13, 177 instructional days originally were scheduled, Pruneau said. The minimum state requirement is 175. Without adding back an emergency day for April 18, students will attend 176 days of school this year.

"Therefore, we do not have to extend the calendar if we wish not to do that," Pruneau said. "Rather than change all that, I recommend we continue with the end-of-year calendar the board already approved."

The board agreed—and also lauded Pruneau for his decision to call off school last week. Closed roads, hazardous traffic and extreme flooding prevented safe travel to school.

Read all Elmhurst flood-related stories here.

"Your decision to call off school was the right decision," board member Maria Hirsch said.

Field Librarian Thanks the 'Schuh Crew'

Field School even had to remain closed until April 22 due to a flooded basement.

Field Librarian Karla Talbot gave public comment Tuesday, thanking district staff who spent the weekend in the basement cleaning up after the storm. She said the water was knee deep, "overwhelming, to say the least," but Director of Buildings and Grounds Frank Schuh and his building maintenance staff—"the Schuh Crew"—got everything back to normal. Books in the school library were damaged, but by Sunday night, the library floor was dry and everything was back in place.

"It was truly amazing," Talbot said.

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