For more politics news, click here

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Legislators trying to build flexibility into school calendars heard Thursday from one school administrator who doesn't have trouble making up snow days.

Steve Knighton, principal of Piedmont Elementary School on Charleston's East End, said the school's year-round calendar eliminates problems other schools have fitting 180 instructional days into a traditional school year.

Unlike those schools, Piedmont has a three-week break that falls about mid-March, providing ample time to make up snow days.

He told a joint House-Senate Education Committee that there are other advantages to the school's modified calendar, which alternates nine weeks of classes with three weeks of vacation, except for a five-week summer break in June and early July.

"We have seen a steady growth in our test scores," Knighton said of Piedmont's 13-year experience with year-round school.

He said Piedmont students avoid what he called the "season of forgetting" during the traditional 11-week summer vacation.

That's particularly important for an inner-city school such as Piedmont, where more than 80 percent of students come from families with incomes below the poverty level, he said. The school is just a few blocks from the state Capitol.

Student attendance rates are higher at Piedmont than at traditional-calendar schools and, Knighton said, faculty absences also are among the lowest in Kanawha County, since teachers can schedule medical appointments or other matters during the frequent recesses.

For more politics news, click here

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Legislators trying to build flexibility into school calendars heard Thursday from one school administrator who doesn't have trouble making up snow days.

Steve Knighton, principal of Piedmont Elementary School on Charleston's East End, said the school's year-round calendar eliminates problems other schools have fitting 180 instructional days into a traditional school year.

Unlike those schools, Piedmont has a three-week break that falls about mid-March, providing ample time to make up snow days.

He told a joint House-Senate Education Committee that there are other advantages to the school's modified calendar, which alternates nine weeks of classes with three weeks of vacation, except for a five-week summer break in June and early July.

"We have seen a steady growth in our test scores," Knighton said of Piedmont's 13-year experience with year-round school.

He said Piedmont students avoid what he called the "season of forgetting" during the traditional 11-week summer vacation.

That's particularly important for an inner-city school such as Piedmont, where more than 80 percent of students come from families with incomes below the poverty level, he said. The school is just a few blocks from the state Capitol.

Student attendance rates are higher at Piedmont than at traditional-calendar schools and, Knighton said, faculty absences also are among the lowest in Kanawha County, since teachers can schedule medical appointments or other matters during the frequent recesses.

"Our staff would never want to go back to a traditional calendar," he said.

Meanwhile Thursday, two county superintendents of schools had distinctly different views on how to fix the school calendar.

Wirt County's Daniel Metz said the most simple solution would be to remove current restrictions in state law that prevent classes from starting before August 26 or ending after June 8.

"It just makes sense to allow us to start the calendar earlier and go later, if necessary," he said.

However, Raleigh County Superintendent Charlotte Hutchens said simply extending the school calendar isn't a perfect solution, since teachers are on a 200-day employment contract, and counties would have to "buy" additional days beyond the 200.

Another option, she said, would be to not pay teachers when school is closed for snow days, freeing up those days for later in the year.

"That would not be a popular option," she said, "but it could be looked at."

Because of the harsh winter, 180 instructional days are already out of reach for 52 of the 55 counties, and the remaining three counties will fall below the threshold if there is one more snow day this year.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.