Kenton County School District plans to use unused snow days

FORT MITCHELL, Ky. - Many Tri-State school districts did not have to use any of their snow days this past winter because it was so mild.

You might think students would be able to get out of school earlier this year. That's not the case for Kenton County School District students.

The two unused snow days will not equal fewer days in class for students. The district's original last day of school of May 30 will stay on the calendar.

"It benefits them even though they're gritting their teeth and they would love to get out earlier. Anytime you can add instructional time it's a good thing," said Kenton County School District assistant superintendent Dr. Kim Banta.

Some parents agree because those are two days they won't have to worry about summer childcare.

"With the extra instructional time it's certainly beneficial. A lot of times we're looking for instructional or educational camps over the summer anyway for our kids. It's always nice to have the extra time for the teachers to work with the kids," said the district's director of support services and father of three.

The district's decision to remain in school those additional days comes at a price.

"It's adding the cost to the district for the salaries of our classified staff, bus drivers, monitors, cafeteria staff, instructional assistants. All of them are getting paid the extra days that they're working. It's adding the whole cost of salaries, benefits into that for us," assistant superintendent Gerald Turner.

District leaders say the additional cost is worth it to give students extra time in the classroom.

"There is a financial impact but I'm still convinced that the financial impact does not outweigh the instructional impact with kids," Banta said.

The unused snow days actually had the opposite impact on some rural Kentucky schools because they have two or three weeks worth of snow days built into the calendar. Some of those students got out of school in April.