Decorah school district will hold classes the Monday after Easter

On Monday afternoon the Decorah Community School Board added Monday, April 5 (Easter Monday)to the school calendar in hopes of avoiding extending school into the week of June 7. The last scheduled school day was previously set as June 4, but with the potential of more "snow days" this action buys the district one more day.

Related to this action, Superintendent Haluska and board member highlighted several important points for the public:

- It's all about safety when tough calls are made regarding delays or cancellations. What you see outside your door is not what bus drivers see. Often one part of the county is dramatically different than another sector. School officials are in constant contact with County officials as they debate decisions.
- Recouping school days during the year is not as easy as it might seem. For example, February 12 is a teacher compensation day, and February 15 is President's Day. Both days are already contracted "no school days" as part of the negotiated master teacher contract so cannot be utilized to make up lost days.
- Haluska said he doesn't believe in "hard surface roads only" type solutions, saying it basically says "whose education do we de-value?" Beyond that, such practices put driving students and parents transporting young children at risk when they decide they really want to attend school or take their children to school.
- The official school calendar does include language that authorizes the board to add in school days to dates that are designated "no school days." While the decision to now include April 5 will be difficult for some, the board felt the decision now at least could allow people to plan accordingly.
- Haluska and staff also noted that other remedies such as longer school days or Saturday classes either do not make educational sense or conflict with large numbers of students who work or participate in co-curricular activities.