3 Days Added to Current School Year

Summer vacation may not begin for Hatboro-Horsham School District students until June 20 under a revised school calendar the board approved Tuesday night.

The extra three days of school stem from the district's closure resulting from power outages following Hurricane Sandy, Superintendent Curtis Griffin said. Beyond that, an additional school day was missed at Pennypack Elementary School

Griffin said the district is requesting exceptions from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the missed days, adding that he is "confident" the district will receive approval for the extra day off at Pennypack. 

Assistant Superintendent John Nodecker said Hatboro-Horsham may not hear if that exception is approved until late spring, once anticipated snow days are no longer an issue. 

If the Pennypack exception is not granted for the fourth missed school day, Nodecker said he was unsure how students would make up the day. Creative means have been employed at other school districts, he said, including adding minutes to remaining school days.

The good news for Hatters bidding farewell in 2013 is that the potential for an extended school year "will not impact seniors," according to Griffin. 

"Seniors will still graduate at the same time," Griffin said. Graduation for the class of 2013 has been set for June 10. 

There is also a chance that the school year would not change for the rest of the district, Griffin said. 

"If we were to get those exceptions granted to us we’ll just go back to the old calendar," he said. 

However, if the state does not grant the exceptions, Griffin said schools would only be open half days on June 17 through June 19. 

"Buildings can be very hot at that time of the year," Griffin said.