LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) – An Alma state lawmaker’s bill to allow schools to make up snow days by the hour passed committee Tuesday.
Rep. Charlotte Douglas, R-Alma, submitted House Bill 1313 on Feb. 9. It would allow school district superintendents in Arkansas to add onto school days in one-hour increments in order to make up for canceled school days, such as snow days.
The bill was referred to the House Education Committee on Feb. 9. It passed the committee Tuesday and was sent back to the Arkansas House of Representatives.
The measure would save school districts from having to add onto the end of the school year with additional instruction days. Douglas’ bill states “that school districts need more flexibility to manage make-up school days missed due to exceptional or emergency circumstances.”
The proposed law lists examples as school days lost because of inclement weather, contagious disease outbreak and other extreme circumstances.
“We are entering the time of year when many school days are missed due to weather,” Douglas states in the bill. “This act is immediately necessary to ensure that school district flexibility is in place before the end of the current school year.”
The House is set to hear the bill Thursday.
