The Aftermath of the Portland Snow-pocalypse

Hillsboro and other areas of the Portland Metro Area have experienced extreme winter weather -snow, freezing rain, and ice have caused various school closures. The Hillsboro School District has cancelled nine days of school over the past month, the amount of missed last year, 1, is a fraction of this number. The amount of missed days has exceeded the amount planned for when the district put together it’s calendar last year.

Portland Public Schools had three potential snow days built into their calendar, voting that two of them will be used to make up for instructional time. An additional three days have been added as well. A decision hasn’t been made as to how the other days will be made-up.

Other school districts in the Portland Metro Area come to similar conclusions, meaning it’s likely that the Hillsboro School District will decide that some, if not all, of those days will have to be made up.

Beth Graser, the Hillsboro School District’s communications director, stated, “Unfortunately, we will likely not know the plan or decision for adding back days until the threat of inclement weather has passed - typically in early March.”

The decision will be based upon multiple factors including; the total number of days missed, the impact on instructional hours, and what the state requires.

District-level executive administrators, including the superintendent's cabinet, will work collaboratively with their licensed employee union to come to a conclusion. The Superintendent will pass on the information to the school board and recommend a course of action. The board will vote and make changes to the calendar accordingly.

Various methods as to how the snow days are going to be made up have been proposed. Adding extra days to the end of the year is standard. Other methods such as getting rid of academic seminar days for the remainder of the year and adding extra time to the school day are options. Due to the amount of missed days due to the snow and Governor Kate Brown declaring a state of emergency, the district may send a request to the state not to make up all of the snow days. There is a possibility of three days being eliminated.

Student opinion varies. Century High School sophomore Morgan Hansen expressed, “ I don’t think they [make-up days] are necessary because teachers are already planning around them and taking out certain assignments and lessons that are less necessary… a waste of money and time.” On the contrary, Century High School freshman Aniya Heuss stated, “ I think we should have to make up the days if it’s over two days, although the semester dates stay the same so it doesn’t help having them at the end of the year. The day we have off for no reason should be school days.”

With more inclement weather and school cancellations possible, the decision as to whether school days should be made-up is still up for debate. Students, have hope!