Are Wichita-area schools running out of snow days? See what Kansas law says

Yahoo

20-02-2025

Wichita school districts students have so far had this week off amid snow and bitter cold.
School officials canceled classes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There was no school Monday because it was President's Day.
So far this year, including Thursday, Wichita students have been off school eight days because of severe weather. Half of those were in January, with the rest in February.
So will they — and students from surrounding districts in similar situations — have to make up days?
It may be too soon to tell. Districts have a number of options if they need to make up time, and adding days is only one of them.
Kansas Department of Education guidelines require school districts to provide 1,116 hours of instruction, roughly 177 days, with a maximum of 40 virtual learning hours. School days are 6 1/2 hours long.
'Snows days' are not built into the academic calendar, since weather conditions are different every year, but the district has allotted 50 hours to use for weather cancellations, said USD 259 operations division director Fabian Armendariz.
If a district uses all of its allotted time, it can add minutes to the day or days to the school year. It also can add staff learning time.
For example, although classes are canceled Thursday, all Wichita school staff will report to work for a professional learning day. Such days count as half of the regular instructional time.
These days 'offer teachers and staff opportunities to learn new skills, collaborate and develop expertise,' according to the Kansas State Department of Education.
'A regular school day with students attending counts hour for hour. Professional development activities count for 0.5 per hour,' KSDE deputy commissioner Frank Harwood said.
The last day of school for Wichita students is May 22. The USD 259 academic calendar lists May 27, 28 and 29 as possible make-up days for inclement weather. Armendariz said these days are a last resort.
'I don't want to say that we are heading in that direction, because I don't think we're there yet, but that is also an option as a last resort this year,' Armendariz said. 'Just want to remind our community that we're doing the best that we can, and we'll try to come up with the best solutions with minimal impact to our community.'
Derby, Maize and Valley Center school districts told The Eagle they follow the same procedure as Wichita to make up for instructional hours lost to weather.
Asked how the Wichita district has dealt with weather issues in the past, Armendariz said, 'We've never found ourselves in this situation before.'
'I've been dealing with weather and as part of our weather team for the last 15 years, and I haven't encountered a year like this,' Armendariz said.
By Tuesday night, Sedgwick County, including Wichita, had seen between 4 and 7 inches of snow. Wind chills between -15 to -25 are forecast in Wichita until Friday, according to the National Weather Service.