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Snow Make-up Days and Summer Plans

Seattle Schools announces snow-day make-up plan

Published on: February 26, 2019

Seattle-area child enjoys a snow day

March 15 update: 

Students attending schools in Issaquah and Edmonds will make up all missed days of school. The last day of school for Issaquah students will be June 27. The Edmonds School District converted their June 20 early release day into a full day, and the last day of school will be June 26. Graduation dates remain unchanged, although seniors in Edmonds will need to make up some instructional time. 

The Bellevue School District has asked the state to waive three snow days and expects that June 21 will be the last day of school. 

Some districts have still not finalized their end-of-the-year plan.

March 1 update: The Tacoma School District chose to apply for waivers, and the state granted permission to waive three of the four snow days. The last day of school for Tacoma students will be June 19. Graduation dates remain unchanged.

Other area districts, some with as many as nine snow days to make up, have not yet reached a verdict. Districts from Edmonds to Issaquah are still deciding if they want to attempt to obtain waivers from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, but many are holding off on making final decisions until the end of winter.

Feb. 26 update: Seattle Schools announced Feb. 25 that the district's students will have to make up all five snow days missed this month, extending the last day of school a full week, to Thursday, June 27. The make-ups days apply to students in preschool through grade 11.

The last day of school for seniors will remain Thursday, June 20, and graduation high schools' various graduation plans will not be changed.

Original story: As snow continues to sheath our streets and schools remain closed, many parents and teachers are casting eyes towards their June calendars with trepidation. Unfortunately, planning for graduation, vacations and summer childcare coverage will continue to be unresolved for a bit longer.

While speculation is that school districts will simply tack extra days onto the end of the school year, many school calendars only allot for three make-up snow days. As Seattle Public Schools enters its fourth snow-day closure, theories over make-up days are swirling.

On Tuesday, February 12, Tim Robinson, a media relations specialist with Seattle Public Schools, didn’t have much to say. “It’s just too early to provide any specific information,” he says. “This is a developing situation during a near-unprecedented series of storms.”

The Seattle Public Schools website posted a brief update about how snow make-up days are determined, noting: "Governor Inslee declared a state of emergency providing school districts limited ability to obtain waivers from some snow days. We will assess all possibilities when determining a solution and work with our labor partners to finalize the adjusted school calendar."

Make-up days do need to be agreed upon via a bargaining process with the Seattle Education Association, and there is no word yet on the timeframe or even if those bargaining dates are being discussed with the teachers’ union. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) might add some insight about alternative instructional hours if the 180 school-day requirement is too much of a burden on the community.

ParentMap will stay in touch with SPS and other area school districts and will provide updates to this article.

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