After losing six instructional days due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy and the ensuing nor’easter, the Herricks Board of Education approved changes to its 2012-13 school calendar that would convert a series of non-instructional days into class time for students and faculty.
The changes, made during the board’s regular meeting on December 13 at the middle school, makes the two contingency days in the calendar – Tuesday, May 28 and Monday, April 1 – into school days for students and staff. Schools will also be open on Wednesday, February 20, Thursday, February 21 and Friday, February 22. The two elementary parent conference days of Friday November 30 and Friday March 15 will also ecome regular school days. The January exam period at the high school will be shortened to regain one instructional day for high school students.
The changes leave the staff one day short of the Herricks Teachers Association (HTA) contractual agreement for 183 days. If school was cancelled for one or two days this winter due to snow, the district would be even further below that figure. However, unless the district closes for more than two additional days, no further adjustments to the calendar will be necessary.
Superintendent Dr. John Bierwirth said the information was distributed to parents and staff.
“If we have a lot of snow, we might have a five-hour delay but we’ll be open,” Dr. Bierwirth said. “We were open three days of election week but one of those was a staff conference day and the other two were not regular school days by any means. So we really lost two weeks.”
