School board to ask forgiveness for missed days

The school board approved a recommendation made by Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler that would ask Alabama State Superintendent Joseph Morton to forgive the four missed says students missed due to the storms that shook the area April 27.

“The current calendar takes us deep into school year,” Fowler said. “Students will come back after Memorial Day. For the forgiveness of days to be effective, the governor has to declare the county as disaster area.”

Gov. Robert Bentley has done that. Now, all is left is to ask Morton for the forgiveness, and he will either approve or deny the board’s request.

“I’m glad the legislature came up with this because we really didn’t have a way to cut days prior to this,” said school board member Phil Schmidt.

The senate voted 29-0 to approve Senate Bill 271, which gives school systems more options in making up missed days because to storms.

Under the law, an affected school system that closed and lost instructional days, employee days or both, could ask the state superintendent for relief from meeting instructional-day or work-day requirements, if the governor declares a state of emergency for any part of Alabama.