Snow days bringing an extended school year to the Fox Valley
(WLUK) -- Snow days can make for shorter summers for many school-aged children and families.
Schools are adding 'Weather Make-Up Days' to the 2023 school year.
"I would say this year's been nice that we haven't had the really cold weather and not had to call school off due to the extreme cold," said Lori Blakeslee, the director of communications and public relations for the Green Bay school district.
The state of Wisconsin requires at least 437 hours of direct instruction in kindergarten. The code also requires 1,050 hours of instruction in grades one through six and at least 1,137 hours of instruction in grades seven through 12.
Shawano is one of many districts in Northeast Wisconsin that has added time. April 10 and June 7 will now be full days of instruction for students and staff.
In the Green Bay Area Public School District, May 12 will no longer be a day off of school. The school year could also be extended as late as June 13.
The district decided this year that it would not substitute virtual learning days because not all students have equal access to technology.
"To really make sure that one, we're providing equitable access to learning and, two, we also know that especially for our younger learners, this can be very stressful on families," said Blakeslee.
"The Oshkosh Area School District is not needing to add any minutes or days to this school year because our process has been for high schools and middle schools to have virtual learning days in the event that schools are closed due to weather," said a spokesperson from Oshkosh Area School District.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction says it won't know until after the school year finishes which districts across the state added time to the year.