By Myles Goldman

During the month of January and the first week of February, Westborough Public Schools cancelled school four times due to snow and ice storms. The Massachusetts Department of Education requires school districts to be in session for 180 days. Therefore, Westborough is required to make up the four school days that have been missed. Currently, the Westborough School District intends to reschedule the four missed school days at the end of the school year. Originally, school was scheduled to end on June 15. With the four rescheduled snow days, school is now slated to end on Tuesday, June 21.
Since Westborough High School seniors will graduate on June 4, they will not have to make up the four snow days. Superintendent Marianne O’Connor reassures seniors that if there are additional snow days, seniors will not have to attend make-up days.
For the rest of the school district O’Connor says the district must end school no later than June 30th.
O’Connor commented, “This is the reason our district elects to begin [school] before Labor Day. Districts that begin later in August or after Labor Day will have difficulty completing the required number of days before June 30th and therefore may need to use vacation time. We should be okay unless something occurs.”
If the number of snow days did take the school year close to the June 30 cut-off date, the school committee and O’Connor would consider rescheduling some of the missed days on Saturdays or during April vacation week.
“[We] will consult with parents and staff in the community before making a final decision,” O’Connor said.
The “186th day (5 snow days)” listed on the official district school calendar for the year is not representative of built-in snow days. Instead, the school district is required by the state to schedule 185 days of school in case there are weather or other emergency situations that cause school to close. School districts are allowed to go beyond these five days as long as they are not going to school beyond June 3rd.
On February 1, a scheduled half-day of school ended with students being dismissed early due to a winter storm. The scheduled teacher professional development in the afternoon was also cancelled. O’Connor says she will be consulting with the teachers’ union to decide when the professional development will be rescheduled and if there is a need for another half-day.