The missed school days associated with the recent storm will not impact Rabun County Schools calendar, says Superintendent Steven Cole. “Any time we have to miss school it is very unfortunate but there are going to be circumstances that arise due to unforeseen events that are going to cause us to miss school from time to time. As far as we are concerned, the State Law in terms of attendance allows four days for each system to miss school related to disasters, acts of God, or other related emergencies. So, as of now, we have missed four days related to the hurricane that came through but two of those days we did count as virtual learning days, so we don’t have to count those in the four that are allowed but we still have the other two, Monday and Tuesday, that we do have to count towards that but one of the things too is we are also a Strategic Waiver System, which means we have some flexibility related to the laws pertaining to attendance. So, if we go to a situation where we move beyond the other two days allotted then we can work through that system to gain some flexibility there in terms of our attendance for the rest of the year. So, that is where we are at right now. Of course, it is a situation like I said we don’t ever want to miss school if we can help it. Instructional time for students is so important and any day they are out they’re losing another day of instruction and even if it is virtual it is not the best situation and then of course we always consider the wrap-around services that our students receive. When they’re not at school of course they’re not getting the breakfast and lunch sometimes that a lot of kids depend on and things like that. So, those are considerations too that really weigh on me when we have to decide on whether to close school or not are the other things that come along with that outside of just the instructional component.” To learn more about Rabun County Schools, visit https://www.rabuncountyschools.org/.