School Districts Consider How To Make Up Missed Days, But They Don’t Have To

State law requires schools to be open 180 days a year and allows four days to be missed because of weather or other emergencies.

There is a catch.

In 2008, Strategic Waiver School System Contracts started. The waiver gets a school system out of the 180-day requirement as long as it meets performance standards. Most schools entered into contracts in 2015.

Contracts run seven years for strategic waiver schools that started in 2015. After five years, they are evaluated on performance-based standards like high school graduation rate and test scores.

Allan Meyer, Georgia Board of Education policy director, said those standards keep school systems mindful of the missed days.

“Most of them are starting to step back and say, ‘OK, how many days have we missed?’” Meyer said. “‘What is the most relevant for our community?’ and ‘What do we need to do to either make up those days or figure out some other alternative?’”

All but two of the state’s 180 school districts have strategic waivers (135) or are charter systems (43), which means they do not have to follow the 180-day rule in the first place.

Atlanta Public Schools is a charter system, and between Tropical Storm Irma and winter weather, APS students have already missed seven days this school year.

Now, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen is asking for parents’ input on how to make up those days.

“Take the survey and give me feedback on how you’d like to make up days,” Carstarphen said. “We have several options and we just want to work with our staff and families to the best of our ability not to make that painful.”

The survey gives people six options to choose from. Options range from reducing planned breaks to extending school days by a half-hour each day for the next two months.

The survey closes Sunday night.