Snow days don’t mean extra days for Rabun Schools

RABUN COUNTY —  Like most, Rabun County missed school for Tropical Storm Irma which brought treacherous conditions and over 2 inches of snow last week. In lieu of the situation, the district has proclaimed the days must be accounted for.

Superintendent Melissa Williams told WRBN that although the students have lost 12 days of curriculum, she does not anticipate any curriculum issues.

“We made up days first semester as well, in order to prevent any gaps in the curriculum delivery,” Williams said.

According to the district, students have already made up four of the total 12 days lost to inclement weather this year. Additionally, teachers and staff have redeemed three out of their total seven days missed — three of which dates were deemed State of Emergency Days by Gov. Nathan Deal which leaves the determination up to the local system whether the missed days must be made up for or not.

Since Rabun County Schools exists as a Strategic Waiver School System, some flexibility is allowed to alter their academic calendar according to a statement released by the superintendent’s office.

February 19th and 20th have been marked on the school’s calendar to be used as makeup days — the 19th was already predesignated on the calendar as a bad weather day, while the 20th was in places as a holiday, known as President’s Day.

The district said the students will be back in on the announced dates which will put students half-way there to make up for all of the days lost out of the academic year, six out of 12.

Teachers, however, will need to work an additional two days on top of February 18th and the 20th. Additional teacher makeup days have also been named and will require staff to work on May 28th and May 31rst.

Williams said it is important to remember that although more than average days have been missed because of weather-related conditions, the district still holds an academic responsibility for its students.

Their student achievement will be measured by their performance on the End of Course/End of Grade (EOC/EOG) with a set curriculum responsibility which the district will monitor. The teacher evaluations are also tied to student achievement on these state-mandated assessments and Professional Standards Commission (PSC) certification is also tied to the teacher evaluations.

“Our flexibility contract with the state is tied to these student achievement measures. We continue to be at the top of our Regional Education Services (RESA), and the state, in almost all categories related to student achievement and accountability,” a statement from the district read. “We perform well because we value the time we provide for our students to receive direct instruction from the best educators in this state. We keep the main thing, the main thing.”