Schools are allowed five free snow days and five non-traditional days each year. Elkins High School had to call off classes 15 times due to unpredictable weather. It has been confirmed that they need to make up for these lost days. This could lead students to go to school late in the summer. However, waivers have been processed to try to counteract that. Only one day was allowed to be changed; March 18th. June 5, 2026, is the last day for students. The last day for employees is June 15, 2026. This is not a static decision, though, as it is predicted to change because of the climate right now. Rochelle Baird, Attendance/WVEIS Director for the school board, helped put into perspective the process of making these changes.

“Some requests made (such as the PL Days) were denied. Also, the original calendar “locked” in Spring Break, so those types of changes have to go through a State process,” Baird said.

Another waiver that was passed this March was the Senate Bill 890, which has the intent of shortening the school year. Instead of counting the 180-days a year, they want to count hours at school. This would be 954 hours of school a year if we see this in action, adding up to 120 days. The outcome that the state wants is 4-day workweeks. With this change, that means 2-hour delays and 3-hour early outs can affect when a student gets out of school that year. The decisions are usually made by the school board with permission from the state. There was also a consideration for changing the school hours, such as 12:00-5:00, for example. However, she mentioned that this bill brings options for each state.

“The impact on our families is important. The ultimate goal is to address lost instructional time due to weather conditions,” she said, “This bill puts a greater emphasis on total instructional time instead of being present a whole day.”