By Kendall Harshberger
<[email protected]> 

This year, if winter weather causes schools to close, the school will no longer have multiple flex days to make up for it. Instead, there is only one flex day on May 4. If there is more than one snow day, students will have to remain in school after the last day of school.

In the past, two half days could be combined to form one full day. Since CHS planned for the last two days of finals to be half days, this allowed the school to have two full flex days, a day where school is not in session unless it is needed as a make-up day for inclement weather.

According to Superintendent Barbara Underwood, this policy is no longer in place.

“State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Bennett, changed the rules for this year,” Underwood said. “No longer can two half days be added together to equal one full day.”

At the May 18 school board meeting, Steve Dillon, Director of Student Services, presented the new 2009-2010 calendar which included the changes for how snow days would affect the school calendar.

According to Underwood, CHS is in session for 180 full days and four half days this year. 

Due to the recent change in half days policy, CHS will need to make up any days missed due to snow days by adding on days after school is technically supposed to be finished. 

Sophomore Kelly Clark said she thinks this is a fair rule but doesn’t want to be in school longer than necessary.

“It’s fair because teachers need to teach their whole curriculum, and we need to make up for the things we missed, but we didn’t cause the weather change,” Clark said. “It’s not our fault that it snowed or it’s icy; it seems kind of unfair in that aspect.”