COLUMBUS, Ohio – A bill granting Ohio school districts extra calamity days because of hazardous winter weather is headed for a conference committee after the House rejected Senate changes Wednesday.
The Senate passed a plan to let schools take four days, but not until districts used four “contingency days,” set aside in case they use up their calamity days.
The House version of the bill would let schools get four additional days off, with teachers having to report on two of those.
Snow and frigid temperatures led many districts across Ohio to exhaust their five allowable calamity days. Some have cancelled classes for 10 or more days.
The Senate-passed bill excuses seniors from attending make-up days that scheduled commencement.
It also allows districts to add 30 minutes to the school day and reopens the application period for districts that want to use the packages of assignments known as “blizzard bags,” which are completed at home to account for a snow day. The application for using the blizzard bags expired in August.