A non-issue or a potential problem? Parents and principals weigh in on Saturday makeup days

The possibility of having to attend school on Saturdays to make up for any days lost to a storm this year is a “non-issue,” multiple Beaufort County School District principals said Wednesday, but some parents have a different opinion.

In an effort to avoid the scheduling issues encountered last year after Hurricane Matthew and without seeking public opinion on the matter, the Beaufort County Board of Education decided back in March to reserve eight Saturdays in case makeup days are needed this academic year.

In years past, the board generally reserved weekdays as makeup days.

Though the potential of having school on Saturdays might conflict with any part-time jobs teachers have to supplement their incomes or student extracurriculars, such as sports, the district’s principals maintain that this is not an unusual way to make up for lost time.

“It is a non-issue,” Chad Cox, Battery Creek High School principal, said. “It is a common practice around the state. It gives us flexibility in case we need them.”

Yet, out of the 20 largest school districts in the state, Beaufort County is the only one to designate all Saturdays as their state-mandated makeup days.

Debbie Wyatt, a school district parent in Bluffton, said Wednesday that she doesn’t like the idea.

“I don’t think it is going to work because of sporting events, and some of the kids have weekend jobs,” Wyatt said. “I think the attendance on a Saturday is not going to be very high.”

Her daughter, Jordan, also disapproved of the plan.

“(For instance) I am going to be out of town next weekend to see the eclipse,” Jordan, 16, said. “If I had to go to school (this) Saturday I would either have to be absent or cancel my trip.”

Ashley Guacin of Bluffton has an 8-year-old in the school district. She shook her head no as she pumped gas at a Parker’s convenience store Wednesday.

“I don’t like it,” she said. “It takes away from their weekend fun time.”

Guacin said her son plays soccer in a private club on Saturdays, and this would conflict with that schedule.

Multiple private club teams travel on weekends for tournaments that parents pay for months in advance. The school district also has sport teams such as cross country and track that compete on weekends, many of which, the district pays an entry fee for.

Johnny Rivera has a student entering the school district this year. He said there is a worry that the district will burn children out on school by sending them on Saturdays.

“The kids only have Saturday and Sunday to be with their families,” Rivera said. “Why ruin their childhood?”

Kathy Corley, Red Cedar Elementary principal, said no one likes adding days to the end of the year or during holiday vacations.

“You have to get the makeup days in somehow,” Corley said. “Part of this is our bond with the taxpayers of South Carolina — that we promise to provide 180 days of school.”

Amanda O’Nan, Hilton Head Island High School principal, also supported the decision.

“We are always looking for the best way to cram instruction in after missed days,” O’Nan said. “To me, it is a non-issue because if it is the best for the kids, that is what we need to do.”

Not all the parents interviewed by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette were against the idea of using Saturdays to makeup days.

Anna Arn has a child at May River High School. She said there are worse options than Saturdays.

“Sounds better than using summer vacation,” she said. “A lot of people have vacation plans that they have to change when they go longer into the summer.”

All of the principals said that so far no parents of teachers have contacted them in favor of or against using the Saturdays.

Constance Goodwine-Lewis, principal of Broad River Elementary School, said it is likely parents won’t call the school unless a day has to be used.

“Parents are getting ready to send their kids back to school right now,” she said. “They aren’t thinking about makeup days.”

Goodwine-Lewis said she wasn’t concerned about using Saturdays.

“I’m flexible,” Goodwine-Lewis said.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 5:02 PM with the headline "A non-issue or a potential problem? Parents and principals weigh in on Saturday makeup days."