TOLEDO, Ohio — If you have children in school, chances are your kids have had a day or two off this week thanks to a blast of winter weather.
School districts in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan have canceled classes for students, in some cases for multiple days, because of frigid temperatures, gusty winds and snow.
Particularly if your children have been off for numerous days you may be wondering just how many snow days your kids can have this year.
Both in Ohio and in Michigan, schools are required to be in session for a minimum number of hours each school year.
How the states calculate those minimums is slightly different and the number of allowable "snow days" can vary by district, depending on their schedules.
Here's a breakdown of how many snow days schools can use in Ohio and Michigan:
Snow days in Ohio
In Ohio, schools are not required to be in session for a certain number of days, but they are required to provide a minimum number of hours of instruction each school year.
Schools must provide 455 hours of instruction for students in half-day kindergarten, 910 hours for students in full-day kindergarten through grade 6; and 1,001 hours for students in grades 7-12.
Most school districts create school schedules that include more than the minimum number of hours so that even when they have to cancel school because of dangerous weather or other issues, they still meet the state's minimum hour requirements.
This means there is no set number of allowable snow days in Ohio. That number will vary by district, depending on how many hours the schools have scheduled for the school year.
If a school district has to cancel so many days that it slips below the minimum number of required hours for the year, school officials have to extend the school year to make up the difference.
Snow days in Michigan
In Michigan, schools must provide 1,098 hours and 180 days of instruction under state law or risk losing state aid funding.
State law allows districts to use six days or the equivalent number of hours for what the state calls "forgiven time."
In most cases "forgiven time" is for snow days, but can also be used for other issues outside of the control of school officials that force schools to cancel classes, such as storms, fires, health conditions or infrastructure issues.
These six forgiven days can be used anytime during the school year without prior authorization from state authorities.
After a district has used six forgiven days, state law allows the state superintendent to grant a district up to three additional days of forgiven time for unusual and extenuating circumstances.
If a district needs to use more than the allowable number of forgiven days, school officials can make up the time by rescheduling instructional time, either with extended hours to some school days or additional school days.
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