Valley schools react to snow days

Some Spokane Valley-area students will have to make up time missed from school during the snowstorm earlier this year, while others will not.

Schools have the option to apply for a waiver for the missed days as long as they provide 1,000 hours of instructional time by the end of the school year.

Central Valley has been granted a waiver and will not require students to make up the three days missed. The board voted to approve the plan during its last meeting.

West Valley has applied for a waiver for two missed days, but has decided to add 12 minutes to the end of the school day from March 17 to May 16, said district spokeswoman Sue Shields. School start times will remain unchanged.

East Valley this month will likely apply for a waiver for two missed days, said district spokeswoman Judi Christianson. The board has discussed adding a day to the end of the school year, making June 13 the last day of school, but no final decision has been made. The district applied for a waiver for the day schools shut down after a man committed suicide on the grounds of East Valley Middle School on Jan. 18. That day will not be made up.

Liberty School District was granted a waiver for seven days of missed school because of snow and impassable roads, said Superintendent Bill Motsenbocker. “We will most likely not make up those seven days,” he said.

Liberty has a longer school day than most schools and was able to meet the 1,000-hour requirement, he said. The district did have a snow day a week or two before the major storm and made that day up on Feb. 29.

Freeman School District was out for four days during the storm and has applied for a waiver, said Superintendent Sergio Hernandez. Those days will not be made up, but the district also was closed two other days that were not within the declared snow emergency. Those days will be added to the end of the school year, making June 10 the last day of school.