Snow, floods complicate school calendar

Snow and flooding have left behind more than dented cars, broken pipes and water-logged basements. Winter's double whammy is making a mess of school calendars, too.

Graduation day must be rescheduled at Arlington High School, and seniors in Monroe could have to return for make-up days after their commencement ceremonies.

The Stanwood School District has written letters to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction asking the state to waive four of the five days that were canceled because of snow and flooding.

Mukilteo school officials are dreading the prospect that the winter may bring more weather-related disruptions. They've already lost three days to snow.

"Our options now are to cut into mid-winter break or spring break or Memorial Day, and probably none of those are going to happen or you go to school on a Saturday or add to the school year," said Andy Muntz, a Mukilteo School District spokesman. "Having the last day of school on Monday just doesn't seem like it will work very well, but it has happened in the past."

In eight of the past 10 years, Mukilteo has had two or fewer snow-caused make-up days. In five of those years, there were no makeup days at all.

This year, every county school district has been hit hard by the weather. And the winter is still young.

The Stanwood school year originally was scheduled to end June 16. No changes will be made to the calendar until the district hears back from the state on the possibility of waiving the four days lost to snow and floods, said Cathy Britt, a school district spokeswoman.

Stanwood faced fierce flooding last week. Students showed up by the dozen to fill and stack sandbags. More than 200 residents of a senior citizens home were sheltered in the Stanwood High School gym and commons area.

"We're just glad it's over for now," Britt said.

The Snohomish district must make up four days -- three from snow and one from flooding. Make-up dates have not been scheduled.

No decisions have been made in Monroe, where students missed three snow days, spokeswoman Rosemary O'Neil said. School officials are looking into the possibly of getting some of the makeup days waived by the state, but that's not likely unless more bad weather closes school again this year, she said.

One thing is certain: Graduation will be June 6, no matter what, O'Neil said. If the snow days are made up at the end of the school year, on June 12, 15 and 16, seniors will have to return to school for a few days after celebrating their graduation.

Over the past few years, school officials and students have become more used to the idea of make-up days, O'Neil said.

"It's getting to be somewhat common, but prior to the big bout (of bad weather) we had a couple years ago we never even used our predetermined snow days," she said. "It's only been in the last couple of years that this has become something we have had to look at more often."

Arlington High School will change its June 9 graduation date to comply with a state law that prevents seniors from being released more than five days before the end of the school year, said Warren Hopkins, the district's deputy superintendent.

The Edmonds School District lost three days of school from the December snowstorm. Those days already have been rescheduled for June 17, 18 and 19.

If bad weather hits Edmonds again and kids get another day off school, district officials plan to make it up on Friday, May 22, which is currently scheduled to be a day off for kids. The other option could be June 22.

In Marysville, schools were closed for three days in December because of snow. School officials have decided to tack the extra days onto the end of the school year. School was originally scheduled to end on June 11. Now it's June 16.

Everett also will make up three days. The hard winter has given Everett plenty of opportunity to try new technology to alert parents of closures or late starts.

Besides posting closures on its Web site and with broadcast media, the district has been making automated calls before 6 a.m. to students' parents and guardians. It decided to add the early morning call after surveying parents and receiving overwhelming support to do so, said Mary Waggoner, a school district spokeswoman.

On Jan. 5, when school was two hours late because of icy conditions, the district made 12,225 calls to parents before 6 a.m.

The tiny Index School District, which runs just one school, Index Elementary, missed three days in December because of snow, then another in January, also for snow. District officials haven't decided when to make those days up for the district's 33 students, said Tracy Hale, director of transportation and food service for the school.

Index Elementary didn't miss any school during last week's flooding. The Skykomish River stayed within its banks, she said.

"It was really amazing," Hale said. "We were ready at a moment's notice to evacuate. The last time it flooded, they told us to get out."

Darrington received plenty of snow, and still, kids went to school. The district only canceled school two days during the snowstorm and didn't cancel any during the floods.

"The big joke is we never stop school -- no matter what," said Myra Lewis, the district's business director. "I don't know if it's part resiliency. We're just kind of used to that."

Lewis estimates that Darrington received 5 feet of snow during one week this winter. Piles of snow 12 feet high still dot the town, she said. However, because most bus routes in the district are relatively flat, buses were able to continue their routes, Lewis said.

"We just chained up the buses, and we were able to get around," she said.

Darrington Superintendent Larry Johnson hasn't decided when to make up the district's two snow days. He's considering tacking extra days onto the end of the calendar or turning a staff development day, which students don't have to attend, into a regular school day.

Sultan schools missed three days for snow and one for flooding. Two to 3 feet of snow blanketed the town and, during the flood, the schools stayed dry but neighborhoods were under water.

"Getting adequate staff here was a problem," said Superintendent Daniel Chaplik. "We want every day to be a quality learning day -- not a movie day."

School leaders haven't decided when to make up those days, but Chaplik expects they'll be added to the end of the school year.



Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.

Weather forces make-up days

Snow and in some cases flooding have forced school districts across Snohomish County to plug make-up days into their calendars. Below are the number of canceled school days each district must reschedule or have waived by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction:

Arlington 3 Darrington 2 Edmonds 3 Everett 3 Granite Falls 3 Index 4 Lake Stevens 3 Lakewood 3 Marysville 3 Monroe 3 Mukilteo 3 Snohomish 4 Stanwood 5 Sultan 4

Get a Red Cross cleanup kit

The Snohomish County Red Cross plans to provide landfill vouchers and cleanup kits to anyone from flood-affected areas of the county who needs them. The cleanup kits include a quart of bleach, a quart of all-purpose cleaner, a sponge, hard-surface brush, latex gloves, garbage bag, mop, kitchen broom, squeegee and push broom.

Red Cross volunteers will be at the Stanwood-Camano Community Resource Center from noon to 6 p.m. today at 9620 271st St. NE, Stanwood; noon to 6 p.m. Thursday at Snohomish Fire Department, 1525 Ave. D, Snohomish; and from noon to 6 p.m. Friday in the parking lot south of Arlington City Hall, 238 N. Olympic Ave.