Winter Break Stripped Away For Snow Make-Up Days

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. -- Henry County Schools has announced that students will be required to attend school during four days originally set aside for winter break.

After a snowstorm hit north Georgia Jan. 9, students missed a week of school. According to Georgia law, school systems are permitted four school day cancellations without having to make them up. But Henry County Schools had already cut the 2010-2011 school year four days short, due to financial restraints.

”Combined with the shortened school calendar already established this year, the absences last week bring the total reduction in instructional days to eight, school superintendent Ethan Hildreth said in a news release.

Hildreth said Feb. 22-25 provide the ”most timely and appropriate make-up days for instruction, giving students time to prepare adequately for upcoming standardized tests. He also said schools may need to use more inclement weather days in upcoming months.

”Adjusting the calendar for emergency days is not an easy decision, and we regret that the weather has created the need for such a task, Hildreth said. ”It is, however, a decision that must be made, and we believe that it is in the best interest of our students to be in school in advance of important assessments and to gain the instruction needed for success.