For parents that may have had a one-day trip planned with their school aged children in late May, they may want to check the calendar. Until recently, May 28 was listed as an “out-of-school environmental day” for the Harrison County Schools.

 

The day meant children would not be in the classroom that particular Tuesday. The days are built into the Harrison County School’s calendar and are able to be utilized as makeup days in the event an instructional day in the classroom is missed due to weather conditions or other reasons.

 

In this particular case, it falls under the “other reason” category. Harrison County Assistant Superintendent of School Dr. Donna Hage recently explained why it has been converted.

 

“(Harrison County Superintendent) Dr. (Mark) Manchin has the option to convert those as needed, usually for the purposes of inclement weather. In this particular case, the reason for the day being converted to classroom time is a result of the work stoppage,” said Hage.

 

This year’s work stoppage was for two days. However, one of those days was considered an actual “snow day” as the result of weather conditions.

 

“There are six out-of-school calendar days that we can utilize,” said Hage. “This is one of those days.”

 

While some have voiced concern over the day being removed, there weren’t other good options. One of the options could have involved taking a day from the spring break for students, but that would likely have caused more hardship than this particular day.

 

School officials have asked that community members share the word that this day is now “in-school day” as opposed to an off day.