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Hurricane Sandy closed Danbury schools for five days in October. Classes also were canceled on Jan. 16 and, due to the big blizzard, on Feb. 8 and 11. But early planning has made recovering the eight snow days easier, officials said.
Deputy Superintendent William Glass told The Danbury Daily Voice in November that 2011 taught the district to prepare for weather related closures and inspired administrators to build in five buffer days into the original schedule.
“Last year Hurricane Irene and the nor’easter hit all the school systems pretty hard,” Glass said in November.
The buffer days were added to the schedule as holidays, but with room to use them as school days as needed, he said. Starting the school year with a 185 schedule means Danbury had only three days to replace so far, district officials said.
Originally students were supposed to have Feb. 18 and 19 off as a holiday, but Feb. 19 will now be a school day to make up one of the three remaining days, officials said. The remaining two days will be added to the end of the school year, making the last day of school June 21, officials said.
Danbury High School is still scheduled to graduate on June 19, despite the extended school year, and school could be extended until June 28 if needed, district officials said. In the off chance June 28 wouldn’t allow for 180 days, the district will start taking days off the end of April vacation, officials said.
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