Garland County's seven public school districts closed due to inclement weather Tuesday, but three were recently approved by the Arkansas Department of Education to use Alternative Methods of Instruction days to avoid having to make up missed days at the end of the school year.
According to the Department of Education, Act 862 of 2017 allows a "public school district and open-enrollment public charter school to develop a plan for alternative methods of instruction to be used on days when the superintendent closes school due to exceptional or emergency circumstances."
The state board may grant up to the equivalent of 10 student attendance days for school districts that have an AMI plan approved by the commissioner. Each district's AMI plan shows how teaching and learning in the public school district will not be negatively impacted by the use of alternative methods of instruction.
Cutter Morning Star, Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs school districts each received approval for up to five AMI days. When the district closes for inclement weather or an exceptional event, students complete assignments for their classes provided by teachers to be turned in within a set number of days from the day the district closed.
Students at Cutter Morning Star have three days to return assignments, while Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs students have up to five days.
In an email sent out districtwide by Stephanie Nehus, superintendent for Hot Springs School District, Tuesday was to be counted as AMI day one. Students and parents were encouraged to contact their school office with questions regarding the assignments during AMI days.
According to Nehus, students' packets include activities and assignments that will count toward their attendance upon completion. The goal, she said, is to continue the learning process despite losing classroom time.
"The plan is that we don't stop the learning because of extenuating circumstances," she said. "Goal is that students stay focused and continue learning.
"By May, students tend to shut down a little bit. Some of that is because standardized testing is over. We want to make every day count for our students."
Lake Hamilton Superintendent Steve Anderson said "many factors" go into the decision to close the district for inclement weather, "with safety being the guiding factor."
"As a general rule, we do not cancel school on a forecast, we want to see actual conditions and the timing of incoming weather," he said. "Things we consider are district area temperatures (both air and ground), precipitation and actual road conditions. In a district our size, conditions can be very different in different parts of the district.
"While we do late night and early morning road check drives in the district, we start watching conditions several days ahead of the weather event. Conditions on the main roads and secondary roads can be very different and both have to be checked and considered. If the roads are not safe enough for our school buses, we cancel school."
According to Anderson, school days added to the end of the school year to meet the legal state requirements for attendance are often not very beneficial.
"We feel that the AMI days will allow students a more academically beneficial experience with these alternative lessons than what they would experience in the month of June," he said. "Also, the reality for many of our families is that they already have their vacations planned, booked and paid in situations that cannot be rescheduled.
"All in all, the AMI days, we feel, is a better solution. On the school administrator side, it makes it a little easier in making a call that might not be crystal clear on the weather."
Local on 01/17/2018