The final bell of the school year will come a little bit later than initially expected, as the Dowagiac Union School district has announced an extension of the current semester.

The district has added two half days to the end of the year, on Monday, June 8, and Tuesday, June 9. In addition, it has extended Thursday, June 5, and Friday, June 6, from half days to full days.

The change in schedule is required to make up for hours lost due to weather-related cancelations earlier in the school year. Per state law, districts are allowed to cancel classes six times throughout the year without making up the time; this winter, Dowagiac schools have called off classes eight times, requiring them to make up two days worth of school.

Administrators have been discussing for several weeks how to make up for the lost hours, choosing a plan that would cause a minimal amount of disturbance to families and any vacation plans they may have during the spring or summer, said Superintendent
Paul Hartsig.

“The only other in-service day we have left this year was Good Friday, which bumps up against spring break this year,” he said. “A lot of people are planning on utilizing that day for vacation or other personal reasons, so we felt that was a tough day to add to this year’s schedule.”

Hartsig said the district  waited until the weather broke to release the new schedule, while still giving parents enough time to adjust plans accordingly.

“We don’t want to go through a number of revised calendars, so we waited,” Hartsig said. “We felt confortable releasing it now that there’s a reasonable chance there won’t be any more snow days this year.”

This is the second-straight year that the district has had to extend school, with four cancellations getting made up last year.