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By Bob Weaver
Here we go again.
Over the last decade, numerous efforts and decisions have been made to see that West Virginia students actually get 180 days of instruction days each school year.
What seemed like a done deal on the 180 rule went into effect this 2014-15 school year.
Not really.
County school systems would apparently be allowed to start applying for waivers from the state Board of Education next month so some snow days that don't have to be made up, if the Legislature does not finalize yet another school instructional time bill before Saturday night.
With the waiver policy, the BOE could opt to give individual counties permission to skip make ups for school days canceled during a state of emergency, as was the case earlier this month in West Virginia, or to use other accrued time in instructional totals.
State board member Wade Linger was the lone board vote against the waiver idea during a meeting earlier this week.
He said a 180 instructional day mandate was included in a 2013 state law for a reason. "We were going to be strict about this and we were going to get these 180 days in."
As the law is currently written, county school systems must make up missed days to get to that minimum level even if it means extending the school year through the end of June.
In parts of West Virginia, school students have missed more than 15 school days, so far this year, because of weather.
The state BOE waiver policy will take effect if lawmakers do not take steps to address the matter.
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