NEWARK — After being a moving target for much of the last few weeks, the final day for Worcester County Public School students will now be Friday, June 13 after the state officials approved a four-day waiver and county school board officials this week signed off on the resulting changes.
During one of the worst winters in recent memory on the Lower Shore, Worcester County Public School students missed a total of 10 days due to snow and other inclement weather this year. There were already three inclement weather days built into the approved calendar going into the current school year, leaving a total of seven days that had to be made up by changes in the calendar, a waiver by the Maryland Board of Education or a combination of both.
Worcester school officials had already approved changes that reduced that number to just five, opening schools on two days already planned for closure including March 28 and yesterday, April 17, which was planned as the first day of the Easter weekend vacation and spring break. Last week, the state Board of Education approved a waiver of four days for Worcester due to inclement weather losses, leaving just one more day to reconcile.
As a result, the Worcester School Board on Tuesday approved the latest, and hopefully, final changes to the school calendar for this year. The last day of school will now be Friday, June 13. The last full day of school will now be Wednesday, June 11, with Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13 as official half days.
Maryland regulations require students to attend 180 days of school within a 10-month period. Because students must also meet a minimum number of 1,080 hours in a 10-month period, school systems that far exceed the minimum number of hours, including Worcester, can count half days toward the 180-day requirement.
Worcester County Public Schools spokesperson Barb Witherow told the school board members on Tuesday not all of the counties in Maryland received all or even part of their requested waivers. Witherow said the state informed Worcester through a letter the fact the county made an earnest effort to make up the days led to the full four-day waiver approval.
“Waivers to the 180-day requirement are typically requested when school systems make every effort to recoup the majority of school days missed due to inclement weather, while at the same time, trying to avoid extending the school year past mid-June,” she said.
Worcester Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jerry Wilson said the process was complicated.
“Although calculating the number of days missed and recouped seems like simple math, the effects of the inclement weather are much more challenging, resulting in unavoidable disruptions to valuable instruction time,” he said. “I think everyone is thankful the signs of spring are blossoming everywhere and we can move forward with a regular schedule.”
With the Board of Education’s approval of the amended schedule this week, the last full day of school will be June 11, with Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13 scheduled as half days. Lunch time is scheduled during the half days and bus transportation will operate accordingly. There will be no afternoon pre-kindergarten on the half days. For high school students, final exams will be administered on June 12-13. For more information, visit the school system website at www.worcesterk12.com.