Last Day of School
Launch the media gallery 1 playerIt has been a long winter. It was one of the hardest winters, weather wise, I can remember in my life time. Traveling the road ways was often dangerous. The wind and cold were bone chilling at best and even dangerous at times. This all lead to a number of school cancellations. I can assure you that weather related safety was one of our major concerns for our students and staff. Now that winter is over and spring has sprung, our focus will remain student and staff safety of all types. However, we must also refocus on another one of our major concerns as a school district. The quality and amount of educational services we provide to our students and the community is our main priority. This has been significantly compromised with the loss of almost three weeks of instruction this winter. Teachers cannot teach their students and students cannot learn if they are not in school.
Due to all of the cancellations for inclement weather days this winter, the last day of school is now scheduled to be Wednesday, June 18th. If any additional time is missed due to ice or fog, that June 18th date may be adjusted. At this time, the last day of school is scheduled to be a half day with elementary students dismissed at 11:40 a.m. and high school students dismissed at 11:45 a.m. The originally scheduled last day of school, June 10th, will be a full day.
All school districts in the state of Michigan are required to be in session for a certain number of days and a certain number of hours each school year. The state forgives the first six days that are cancelled due to inclement weather. After that, districts are required to make up the days that have been cancelled or lose a full day of state aid. School districts in the state of Michigan are also required to have 75% of their total population in attendance each day in order to receive full state aid. If a district falls below 75% attendance on any given day the state docks the district’s state aid in proportion to the number of students that were absent on that day. We encountered a problem this year as we fell below 75% attendance on March, 28th the day before spring break. It is EXTREMELY important that the district receives the full amount of state aid possible. In this climate of school finance where districts, including Beal City, are scrimping for every dime we can get, it is a shame to miss out on state aid dollars due to poor attendance. We need the help of EVERYONE in our community to ensure that the district does not fall below 75% attendance. This is especially true for our last days of school added to the end of the original school calendar.
For the class of 2014, graduation will not be moved. Graduation will be Thursday May 22nd at 8:00 p.m, in the Big gym. The seniors last day of school will be a full day Wednesday May 21st . They will have graduation practice on the morning of May 22nd at 8:30 a.m.