Members of the Jamestown Public Schools Board are pictured during a discussion regarding next year’s school calendar. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

While school districts typically account for at least five extra days each year in case of snow or other adverse events, the calendar for next year will be slightly different.

During the Tuesday meeting of the Jamestown Public Schools Board, members approved the 2022-23 calendar with only 182 days as opposed to the 185-day calendar. Generally, the extra days are built into the calendar in case of inclement weather or “snow days.” Board President Paul Abbott explained that this is a problem the district has had to work through due to state requirements and other requirements that need to be met.

Superintendent Kevin Whitaker said the state Education Department has a minimum threshold of hours and days for each type of school, either elementary or secondary. Elementary schools are required to have 900 educational hours per year, while secondary schools must have 990 hours per year.

“The second thing they set is the minimum number of days — 180 instructional days,” Whitaker said, adding that state aid is tied to the requirement. “The issue arises in Western New York and other parts of New York when snow happens to appear 10 and a half months out of the year, and other weather phenomena such as cold or hurricane or whatever else. So school districts try to build in as many extra days as they can reasonably fit in the calendar within certain regulations from the state like school has to start no earlier than Sept. 1 and end no later than the last day of Regents exams in June; contractural obligations — certain days and certain events are contractually obligated to be either professional development days or vacation days or whatever happens to work out.”

Whitaker said these requirements are due to labor agreements and professional development days needed throughout the year.

“All of these things have to fit into the actual calendar,” he said. “So in certain years, unless you’re going to add Feb. 29 and 30th, it’s awfully hard to add extra days. So, what we’ve been able to do this year and next year is have two extra days.”

Whitaker said should the need arise, there are a few areas where “snow days” can be accounted for such as professional development days, “give back days” during breaks such as spring break, or the district also has the option for remote instruction. The remote options haven’t been agreed to in labor agreements, but the state has allowed for this type of instruction. Whitaker said other districts will also face this issue.

Patrick Slagle, board vice president, said it was good to have a discussion on the issue.

“The one thing that our community should know is that we’re not specifically saying we can’t call off school anymore this year,” Abbott added.