Iowa Ponders Limiting School Make-Up Days

We've been talking about how historic this Winter has been, in more ways than one, including the number of school days being made up because of weather.

A new law in the works in Iowa could "cap" those requirements. A bill introduced in the Iowa House would limit required make-up days to no more than five, adding up to 30 instructional hours.

There's been chatter of Governor Kim Reynolds "forgiving" further snow days this year, but she can't. Current state law requires schools to hold class for a minimum of 1,080 hours or 180 school days per school year.

Folks who say it does more harm than good to students, their attention spans, and their family plans to extend the school year too far are all for this bill.

Davenport representative Cindy Winckler is a former educator who says "I think you reach a point of no return on any kind of learning opportunity" and that students, families and schools "need to know when the end of the makeup is so you can plan out the rest of the year".

It would go into effect as soon as it's signed by the governor, which could mean no more make-up days this year. But it's likely to take more time than that.

[Via Gazette]