Today was supposed to be a day off for Janesville schoolchildren. Instead, kids are in school to make up for a snow day.
One down, at least two more makeup days to go.
Finding days on the school calendar to make up for days off has become a problem for Wisconsin school administrators over the past two years.
Janesville had four days off because of harsh winter weather last year, and four more this year.
And this winter isn't even over.
What's a school administrator to do? Build more snow days into the calendar? That's what some districts do.
But consider that Janesville for decades has gotten by with just one built-in snow day. Officials have had to worry about makeup days in only five of the past 30 years, according to Janesville School District records.
But two of those years were this year and last year. And never until last year had the district called off school four times. Now, school has broken that record two years in a row.
Is it climate change?
Impossible to say, two climatologists said.
What we do know is that 2007 and 2008 were the two snowiest winters for the Janesville area—ever—since records going back more than 100 years, said Alan Black, climatologist with Midwestern Regional Climate Center in Champaign, Ill.
Black was surprised to see those figures when he checked his databases, but even so he said science doesn't have enough data to make good predictions.
Edward Hopkins, assistant state climatologist for Wisconsin, concurred.
Hopkins noted that weather scientists in the past had relied on water temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean to help predict winter weather in the United States—the so-called el niño and la niña effects. But relying on ocean temperatures in the past two years has led forecasters astray, Hopkins said.
So is the climate changing?
"The climate's always changing," Hopkins said.
But that doesn't mean next year will be a harsh winter. And it doesn't mean it'll be a mild winter.
"There's no easy answers," Hopkins said.
SNOW DAYS
Ten of the 15 area school districts contacted by The Janesville Gazette have snow days to make up before the end of the school year.
Only the Elkhorn and Evansville school districts have snow days still available to use. Delavan-Darien, Orfordville Parkview and Williams Bay have exhausted their supply.
Officials in many school districts that need to make up snow days still are figuring how to get it done.
Here's a rundown:
Albany School District
Snow days built in: 3
Snow days used so far: 5
Snow days to be made up: 2
Makeup days scheduled: Not decided yet. The last day of school is June 5, so additional days could be June 8 and 9.
Plans for change: Nothing discussed yet, though this is the first year the district built three snow days in. Previous years only had two.
Beloit Turner School District
Snow days built in: 2
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 2
Makeup days scheduled: Administration is talking to the teachers union about the make-up days, Administrator Dennis McCarthy said. Options include time at the end of the school year in June or in February.
Plans for change: McCarthy said it's not a simple thing to tack time onto a school year, especially since districts can't start the calendar year until Sept. 1.
"If the September 1 start date wasn't there, and we could start in August like we used to, we wouldn't have this problem," McCarthy said.
No matter how you try to build onto the calendar, it usually turns out you're tacking days onto the end of the year, McCarthy said.
"All you're doing is extending the calendar," McCarthy said. "You have to understand that you live in Wisconsin and that's what's necessary."
Big Foot School District
Snow days built in: 2
Snow days used so far: 3
Snow days to be made up: 1
Makeup days scheduled: Thursday, June 11.
Plans for change: Principal Mike Hinske said although changing the district's snow day policy hasn't been discussed, he doesn't anticipate adding more snow days to the school calendar. "We already have the two that are built in," he said.
Brodhead School District
Snow days built in: The school district makes up only odd-numbered snow days. For example, if four school days are cancelled for weather, only the first and third are made up.
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 2
Makeup days scheduled: No dates have been picked, though the two days could be made up on June 8 and 9.
Clinton School District
Snow days built in: 2
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 2
Makeup days scheduled: District administration is working with the teachers union to come up with a creative way to make up snow days, Administrator Pam Kiefert said.
"We hope to find a creative solution rather than just tacking on the days at the end," Kiefert said.
The district and teachers are searching for common ground among "varied and unusual proposals", and Kiefert hopes to find a solution in the next few days, she said.
Delavan-Darien School District
Snow days built in: 3
Snow days used so far: 3
Snow days to be made up: None
Makeup days scheduled: The district is looking ahead in case classes get cancelled because of snow in February or March, Administrator Wendy Overturf said.
"If we would have one more day, we would have to make it up," Overturf said.
If necessary, the district could schedule a make-up day on Feb. 27. If school is cancelled because of bad weather in March, the district could consider having classes on April 13, which is the day after Easter.
Plans for change: The district scheduled three snow days this year and last year. If officials thought more days needed to be set aside, Overturf said that would be considered during calendar negotiations.
Edgerton School District
Snow days built in: 2
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 2
Makeup days scheduled: Friday, June 12, and Monday, June 15.
Plans for change: The Edgerton School District has set its calendar for the next two school years. Superintendent Norm Fjelstad does not recommend building more snow days into the calendar because they'd be superfluous if the district doesn't need them, he said.
Elkhorn School District
Snow days built in: 5 for elementary and middle school, 4 for high school
Snow days used so far: 3
Snow days to be made up: 0
Makeup days scheduled: None
Evansville School District
Snow days built in: 5
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 0
Makeup days scheduled: If at least two more snow days are called, the days would be made up at the end of the year, starting on June 11.
Plans for change: No changes in makeup day plans, though the administration and school board might discuss and more clearly define which staff members report on cold cancellation days.
Janesville School District
Snow days built in: 1
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 3
Makeup days scheduled: Friday, Jan. 23.
Other makeup dates being considered: Monday, April 13, and Thursday, Feb. 19, for high and middle schools; Thursday, Feb. 26, for elementary schools; and Friday, June 12, for all grade levels.
Plans for change: Some school board members and residents have asked why the district doesn't build more days into the calendar. The counter argument is that more snow days were not needed for many years. However, the district has now experienced four snow days two years in a row.
Lake Geneva School District
Snow days built in: 2
Snow days used so far: 3
Snow days to be made up: 1
Makeup days scheduled: To be determined.
Plans for change: District Administrator Jim Gottinger said the district doesn't plan to build additional snow days into the school calendar. "We'd hate to get into that next week in June," he said.
Milton School District
Snow days built in: 2
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 2
Makeup days scheduled: Friday, Feb. 27 and Friday, June 12
Plans for change: The district hasn't formally discussed adding more snow days into next year's calendar, but a lot of people have asked about it, Superintendent Bernie Nikolay said. He expects it to come up for discussion soon.
But adding snow days into the schedule might cause difficulties, he said.
"If you build those days in, there's some union-related issues with that too because if you don't have those snow days, that's extra time that staff would be working," he said.
Orfordville Parkview School District
Snow days built in: 4
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 0
Makeup days scheduled: None. The high school needs to make up 22 minutes, which will be incorporated into current days. If a fifth snow day is called, it could be made up on Good Friday, April 10, or Easter Monday, April 13, interim District Administrator Patrick Kennedy said.
Plans for change: Calendar changes always will be part of the union's next contract negotiations, he said.
Whitewater School District
Snow days built in: 0
Snow days used so far: 4
Snow days to be made up: 4
Makeup days scheduled: Friday, Feb. 27 (a former teacher convention day); and Monday, April 13 (a former professional development day). The two remaining makeup days are to be determined.
Williams Bay School District
Snow days built in: 3
Snow days used so far: 3
Snow days to be made up: 0
Makeup days scheduled: Not applicable.