How Many Snow Days Do Novi Schools Get?

Tuesday is the fourth day schools were closed in Novi in 2014. 

Starting the year with so many snow days has some wondering whether the district will have to add days in the summer. However, the Novi Community School District has a little flexibility with its snow days, Superintendent Steve M. Matthews said in an email to Patch. 

The state requires all districts to provide 1,098 instructional hours, he said, and allows 30 hours — or five days — for snow days. However, the Novi district schedules in general at least 1,110 hours of instruction. 

"So we have a little more flexibility and could go over the 5 snow days and still meet the state requirement," he said in the email. 

Previously, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation allowing schools with too many snow days to avoid having to schedule extra days in the summer.

According to Public Act 29 of 2013, school districts that weren't open at least 170 days could continue receiving state funding, as long as they still met the 1,098-hour minimum, which meant school districts that had more than six snow days could hold longer days for the remainder of the school year instead of adding days.

The law only applied only to the 2012-2013 school year. It would take another act of the legislature for such flexibility to be available during the 2013-2014 school year. 

Editor's note: This article was originally published Jan. 7 and updated to include a correction to the information on Public Act 29 of 2013.