DARLINGTON, SC (WBTW) – Darlington County School Board members met Monday evening. On the agenda, how to make up school days missed due to inclement weather.
Members approved a plan to allow Saturdays to be used as make-up days in the event of bad weather now and in the coming school years.
The topic was under discussion Monday because there were two policies contradicting one another on the books in Darlington County. An older policy said that Saturdays would never be used as an option for make up days, and a newer policy said that Saturdays could be used under certain circumstances.
Darlington County School District officials have already set aside six of the seven days that were missed during Hurricane Matthew. The seventh day is still under consideration but will most likely be forgiven and therefore will not have to be made up.
“If we have additional days that come up this winter then that’s something to consider,” said Audrey Childers, the public information officer for Darlington County Schools. Childers said the meeting was mainly to clear up the discrepancy between the district’s and the state’s rules on Saturday school.
“The new policy simply says that Saturday schools are one option for the school board to consider when making up inclement weather days,” Childers said.
She added that Saturday school in Darlington County would be used as an absolute last resort.
“We don’t get a lot of good attendance on those days and there are other ways that we believe that we can address making up those days,” Childers said.
In other business, school board members approved a plan to allow high-schoolers to learn AED and CPR life-saving techniques. This in response to the state’s passage of the Ronald Rouse Law, named for a Hartsville High School football player who died on the field a few years ago. Officials said this is just the beginning of that plan and more details are yet to come.
