School districts in Arkansas are looking for creative ways to deal with bad weather closures that don’t involve using alternative methods of instruction (AMI) days. One such way is to ask for waivers to switch to a different calendar halfway through the school year. The severe winter weather this month brought to light the practical elimination of AMI days under the LEARNS Act, which permits districts to provide virtual instruction in the event that schools are closed due to inclement weather, disease outbreaks, or utility outages. .. The LEARNS Act does not eliminate the legislation that gave rise to AMI days, but it does mandate that in order to be eligible for state funding that supports raising the minimum teacher salary in the state from $36,000 to $50,000, teachers must complete at least 178 days or 1,078 hours of “on-site, in-person instruction.”. After several weeks of public deliberation, the Arkansas Department of Education released a memo on Thursday that included the following recommendations:. After the communication to superintendents on Friday, January 19, and in light of the significant impact that severe weather has had on several districts throughout the state, leading to the loss of recent instructional days, this guidance attempts to give more information and clarification on how schools can make up the lost time and best meet the needs of their students through in-person instruction. “. The options listed in the memo are not new, according to ADE spokeswoman Kimberly Mundell, who said the document was sent for awareness. .. To convert from a standard 178-day calendar to an alternate calendar that needs 1,068 hours, one option is to use a waiver. I.e. Districts must create a revised calendar reflecting the 1,068 hours of in-person instruction that will be offered during the 2023–2024 school year in order to use the waiver. The district website must host the updated calendar, which needs to be authorized by the personnel policy committee and local board. .. While there isn’t a set deadline for filing a waiver request, Mundell predicted that districts intending to alter their calendar option will get in touch with ADE in the upcoming weeks. We’ll cooperate with the State Board to move the approval procedure along more quickly. “. Mundell pointed out that the State Board of Education, not ADE, is in charge of making decisions regarding waivers. As of Friday, no waivers had been received. I.e. The school board of the Fayetteville Public School District approved a plan on Thursday to move to an hours-based calendar and extend the school day by 35 minutes for students in grades 5 through 12, in support of the district’s request for a waiver. 5. As stated by Executive Director of Communications and Public Relations Alan Wilbourn, the district will not be able to use makeup days to extend the academic year into the summer by lengthening the school day. .. He stated that in recent years, the district had already been thinking about moving to an hourly calendar. Wilbourn stated that although bad weather hasn’t always been an issue in his 32 years with the district, snowfall has become more regular, with 14 snow days recorded in Fayetteville in 2014. He claimed, “We still had to travel for 13 days because the state waived one of them.”. Due to staff member and family scheduling conflicts and everyone being checked out in the first week of June, we were continuing well into June during those days, which did not constitute quality instruction. That’s why it’s very challenging. It’s not even close to being the same as an October school day. “. There will be no additional 35 minutes added to each day for elementary students, but they will still use the hours-based calendar. Because elementary students do not have the same amount of time as older students to change classes, Wilbourn claimed that elementary students already exceed the required amount of instructional time. The plan that was approved by the board was given final approval by the district’s Certified and Classified Personnel Policy committees on Friday. Wilbourn stated that the district will promptly request a waiver of the agreement. Superintendent John Mulford provided a detailed explanation of the district’s quick action in a letter to parents and staff on Friday. “Although we acknowledge that this choice did not incorporate the ideal level of participation that each of us would like, a decision had to be made and executed expeditiously to maximize the advantages of this modification,” Mulford stated. This decision was made primarily with the intention of recovering as much instructional time as possible before state exams by giving teachers and students more daily class time. “. The district will assist families affected by longer school days, Wilbourn said, adding that he appreciates the ADE’s flexibility. .. We’ll work with you on those. We understand that adding 35 minutes to the end of the day may present some special challenges for some families,” he said. The district has two holidays that can be used as make-up days if necessary, in addition to the three make-up days following Memorial Day: President’s Day on Feb. 19 and the eclipse of the sun on April 8. .. According to state law, districts that use an alternate calendar must include a minimum of thirty make-up hours. Traditional calendar districts are required to schedule five make-up days. The school year in the Fayetteville School District would end on May 24 if there were no more snow days, according to Wilbourn.