PARIS — Oxford Hills School District Superintendent Rick Colpitts recommended to directors Monday evening that they take no action now to make up six snow days.

“It is far better to do nothing, but if we get two or three more snow days, I think we will have to do something,” he said.

As of the last snowstorm that ended Feb. 16, School Administrative District 17 students will have their last day of classes Thursday, June 22, instead of the originally scheduled Friday, June 9.

Students must meet the state-mandated 175 days of student instruction.

“There’s not a day that we took off that I regret,” Colpitts said.

He said at this point, he believes it is better to wait and see if there are more snow days. If that happens and the school calender is extended into the last week of June, the board should make a decision on how to make up the days, he said.

He said there are four options:

• Leave the school calendar as is and gamble that there will be no more snow days.

• Eliminate all or part of April vacation to make up up to four days.

• Use a teacher workshop day March 17.

• Extend the school day by one hour. For every five extended days, one school day would be made up. The district can do this for a maximum of 25 days. The state commissioner of education would need to approve this option.

Colpitts said he surveyed some 600 employees and of the nearly 400 responses, 71 percent said they would prefer to extend the school day by one hour. The second preference was to do nothing.

In other action, the board:

• Heard a presentation by Curriculum Coordinator Heather Manchester on the district’s professional development initiatives;

• Approved the superintendent’s recommendation to appoint Paula Holt as educational technician III at Harrison Elementary School, William Leahy III as a volunteer to assist Oxford Hills Middle School wrestling, Heather Mills as technology department secretary, and Emily Martin as library technician III at Paris Elementary and Agnes Gray schools;

• Approved Bethany Hamer and Donald Farr as district bus drivers and Devon Richards as district van driver;

• Approved a Key Club field trip to a leadership convention in Massachusetts from March 31 to April 2.

ldixon@sunmediagroup.net

SAD 17 Superintendent Rick Colpitts, left, talked about possible scenarios for making up six snow days to the board of directors Monday night in Paris.