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Thanks to last winter's polar vortex, the average Ohio school district used nine so-called "calamity days" to cancel classes, almost double the amount previously allocated by the state.But a policy change may give districts more scheduling flexibility to make sure that doesn't happen this winter.
Instead of a minimum number of days for classroom instruction, school districts now have to hit a minimum number of instructional hours: roughly one-thousand for high school and junior high students, and slightly less for their elementary counterparts.Administrators can create calendars exceeding those requirements, which would allow them to cancel classes when winter weather strikes and still satisfy state regulations.But if excess cancellations put schools in danger of not hitting the requirements, Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton says districts now may not have to shorten scheduled vacations or extend the school year.“They certainly have the flexibility to go a whole other day if they want to put another day on at the end of the year, but they can also just add a half hour of time on to each school day, or 15 minutes on to each school day, to make up that difference in time,” Charlton said.A handful of Northeast Ohio school districts already closed earlier this month because of heavy snow.