Stanwood to make up one day

Published 10:54 pm Sunday, January 25, 2009

STANWOOD — Students in the Stanwood-Camano School District will not have to make up four days of classes they missed because of snow and flooding.

There are two reasons why the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has waived four of the five school days missed because of weather, said Cathy Britt, a school district spokeswoman.

The missed time is covered by a state of emergency declaration, and the district will still meet legal requirements for instructional time during a school year, Britt said.

Schools are required to offer 180 days of school and meet a minimum of 1,000 hours of instruction. Schools can get days waived from the 180-day year if they meet the requirement for instructional hours.

“Other emergency closure days that may occur during the 2008-09 school year will need to be made up at the end of the school year,” Britt said.

The one make-up day has been rescheduled for June 17.

The harsh weather will not affect graduation at Stanwood High School, which is set for 7 p.m. June 12.

In a letter asking to have a school day waived because of the flooding, Stanwood-Camano Superintendent Jean Shumate described the challenges the district faced and how the school campuses were important spots for emergency crews.

Many roads were closed for three days, cutting off access to several parts of the community, and Highway 532 was closed or reduced to one lane several times to rebuild the berm to control more flooding.

More than 200 residents of Josephine Sunset Home, a retirement and nursing home, were moved to a Red Cross emergency center based at Stanwood High School. Twin City Elementary School was a staging area for those who gathered to stack sand bags in the community.

Shumate also sent pictures on a compact disc to give state officials a sense of the extent to which the flooding affected the community.

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