The Howard County school board voted last night to require students to attend classes a half-day on April 16 to make up for Wednesday's snow day.

The students would have been off that day because of parent-teacher conferences.

The board's action means that spring break won't be delayed by one day or the school year extended a day.

Board member Jane B. Schuchardt, acting on a recommendation made to her by a teacher, proposed the solution to Superintendent Michael E. Hickey yesterday.

Hickey said he was looking for a solution to a "no-win situation." The state requires pupils to receive 180 days of classroom instruction and he was prepared to recommend to the board that it extend the school year by one day to June 16 to make up for Wednesday's snow day.

"I've been struggling with this dilemma," Hickey told the board.

If schools were open on March 29, traditionally the first day of spring break, a "mass exodus of not just students but staff as well" might occur, he predicted.

Hickey said he received calls from a number of pupils and parents who were concerned about opening schools March 29 because they had bought nonrefundable tickets for travel, or had planned trips out of town during spring break, which ends April 6.

Hickey said he received an equal number of calls from parents and students who were opposed to extending the school year.

"The reality is that people had already made commitments," he said.

If the school year had been extended, students would be required to attend classes until June 16. Three days, June 11, 14, and 15, already were added to the academic calendar to make up for snow days. Had no snow days been used, the last day of school for students would have been June 10.

In years past, the school system had incorporated three snow days into the calendar, but eliminated the practice. Some parents say that the school system should reinstate it.

"The county has got to use their heads and put some snow days back into the calendar," said Cindy Burton, president of Elkridge Elementary PTA. "If we had those two, three days, we wouldn't have to worry about this at all. I just wish they put those days back."

Still, Burton, as did many others, say that the county made a wise choice to replace Wednesday's snow day with the April half-day.

"If schools are already going to be opened for parent-teacher conferences, it's not a bad thing to let the students go to school then, instead of taking away a day from the spring break vacation, or adding a day to the end of the school year," said Jim Clark, a parent of two children at Elkridge Elementary School.

As spring takes its time arriving, school officials are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that schools won't be closed again because of snow.

"No more snow," board members said yesterday.

Pub Date: 3/12/99