When Alabama’s unpredictable weather strikes, school closings are a common occurrence. Madison County schools closed five days due to severe winter conditions: Feb. 20, 25 and 26, and March 5. In addition to closing school entirely, several delays were also issued. The immediate issue with missing five full days of school is the makeup days. No weather days were included in this year’s school calendar, so every day missed seemingly would have to be made up at the end of the school year.
As every student can attest, these days missed have pushed their classes far behind, especially first and second block. Teachers are working double time to cover the material in less time, and the students in turn may take on more homework and struggle to keep up at such a fast pace. The work is still done, and the tests are still given. Under normal circumstances, teachers may cover a unit in a week, allowing ample time to let the information sink in, however, when they are pressed for time, teachers are still able to teach the material, just a faster pace.
Makeup days are unnecessary in cases such as this one; school time was missed, but not nearly enough to put students drastically behind. The luxury of moving slowly through material is the only disadvantage of missing a small number of school days. Makeup days may be appropriate when an excessive amount of school is missed, but five days is not enough to warrant extra school days tacked on at the end of the year.
Not only are makeup days not needed due to teachers’ flexibility in pace of teaching, but makeup days are widely recognized as pointless. After exams have been given, there is little logic in teaching excess material. These makeup days will not allow for any considerable educational growth or progress. Luckily, the Board of Education is not requiring any snow days to be made up, so students can enjoy a full summer.