KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If it seems like your kids are never going to school, you’re right.
The number of days missed due to weather has more than doubled from last year.
Kansas City Public Schools has had nine snow days so far, and students have not had a full week of school since the beginning of 2019.
Some of the days off were previously scheduled, such as Presidents Day and teacher work days.
As of Tuesday, KCPS said its last day would be May 31, but if there is more inclement weather, school could easily go into June.
Lee’s Summit has also missed nine school days due to weather, with a last day of May 30.
Missouri schools are required to have 174 days of instruction per year.
State law also says that every day missed must be made up, until you hit seven snow days.
At that point, one day must be made up for every two days missed.
If a district hits 14 snow days, it is not required to make up any more days.
On the Kansas side, districts are aiming to be done by Memorial Day.
State law allows Kansas districts to extend the school day to make up for lost time.
Blue Valley is adding five minutes to the end of the school day for all students. For Blue Valley high schoolers, class will start five minutes early as well.
On that track, Blue Valley will be out by May 24.
Shawnee Mission still states on its calendar the last day of school will be May 23.
Next year, Missouri law will also allow districts to extend the school day in compensation for snow days.
Under the new law, districts will be required to have a specified number of instructional hours, not days, which allows districts to be more flexible in making up lost time.
KCPS helped lobby for the change.
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