Schools struggle to make up days lost to storms

As students slept in, sledded, and reveled in yet another snow day yesterday, the state's school systems from Boston to the Cape confronted three unappealing choices: force students to make up snow days by coming to school on Saturdays, over spring break in April, or through the last week of June.

''It's a very tough call," said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. ''Everybody needs a break. Saturdays are a possibility, but who wants to go to school six days a week?"

Students' only reprieve from trudging to school over vacations or on weekends is if state Education Commissioner David Driscoll waives the requirement that students attend school for at least 180 days a year.

School superintendents first requested the waiver after January's blizzard resulted in several snow days.

The last time the Department of Education waived the rule was after the Blizzard of 1978. The commissioner will consider waiving the rule later this month ''if the winter continues to slam us," said Heidi Perlman, department spokeswoman.

Dan Hatch, a sophomore at Avon Middle High School, said he slept until 2 p.m. yesterday after school was canceled. He's hoping for a state waiver. He has already been informed that he will have to attend class from 7:35 a.m. to 11 a.m. on three Saturdays to help make up for six snow days in Avon.

''The state needs to give us a break," he said.

Boston's having one of its snowiest winters in history, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton, which has records dating to 1892. So far, 78.1 inches have fallen in Boston, about 38.7 inches more than last winter.

Between Monday night and yesterday, 8.5 inches fell in Boston, and a foot or more blanketed the South Shore and parts of Cape Cod.

The arrival of yet another storm caused 143 flight cancellations at Logan Airport, power outages, and other problems. A snowplow clipped the left wing of an USAir jet arriving at Logan from Philadelphia yesterday, but no one was injured, Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella said.

Meteorologists said the weather will stay cold through the weekend, but no more significant snowfall is expected soon, a forecast Boston Public Schools is betting on. ''Perhaps we're being a little silly in thinking we'll make it through without having to cancel another day," said Jonathan Palumbo, a spokesman for Boston public schools. ''We're certainly monitoring what other school districts are doing to see if anyone is coming up with super-creative solutions."

Boston public school students will remain in class five days longer than planned, through June 30.

Superintendents may be inclined to extend the school year rather than cut into weekends and spring break, but they also said students find it harder to focus on school in late June.

Many will skip out for previously scheduled family vacations or summer camp.

Falmouth Superintendent Peter Clark is weighing his options. He canceled school yesterday after a prediction of 3 inches turned into 10 inches of heavy, wet slush that clogged streets and sidewalks. Students will either attend school through June 29, on Saturdays, or during their April vacation, which Clark considered the worst of three bad choices.

''You could run school on those days, but are you really going to get good work done?" Clark said.

In Barnstable, Superintendent Tom McDonald woke up by 3:30 a.m. yesterday to watch the Weather Channel. He decided to delay school by two hours instead of canceling.

''We were on the fence," McDonald said, ''but we're trying to save some days right now."

In Worcester, school will end five days later than planned, on June 22.

But unlike most school systems, Worcester started its school year before Labor Day.

''We're smart people," said Superintendent James Caradonio. ''Some other people start after [Labor Day], and they have all kinds of holidays. I think they might be celebrating the Fourth of July in school."

Maria Sacchetti of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Cyra Master contributed to this report.