Snow makeup days for Beaufort County teachers? Here are the options

Teachers should hold off on penciling in their snow makeup day for a while.

The Beaufort County Board of Education is still deciding which day to designate as the makeup day for teachers who missed a day of professional development Jan. 4 when snowy, icy conditions closed many businesses and public agencies.

The day cannot be waived, superintendent Jeff Moss told the Beaufort County school board at Tuesday night’s meeting, because teachers are contracted to work 190 days, according to the district’s salary schedule.

State law allows a local school board to waive instructional days if three makeup days have already been used. But Beaufort County School District has only made up two days. And even if three days had already been made up, South Carolina’s school calendar law is unclear on whether non-student work days can be applied to a waiver.

“We are really flying in the dark” because the district is missing a teacher day, not a student day, school district attorney Drew Davis told the board.

One option Moss suggested to the board is to add the day onto the end of the school year and allow principals discretion on when and how that day would be made up. For this calendar year, that would fall on Monday, June 4.

Another option under consideration is to have a virtual professional development day. Moss said he would consult with the state Department of Education on this option and report back to the board.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Snow makeup days for Beaufort County teachers? Here are the options."