Ben Tirbaso ’16
On Monday, February 24^th, Governor Kasich was in my hometown of Medina to deliver the annual State of the State Address.  There amongst the throngs of protesters representing various causes, I took the opportunity to exercise my civil right to voice my opinion pertaining to calamity days, representing myself and my fellow classmates around the state.  (See photo to the right).
On Tuesday, February 26^th, the Ohio Senate voted on whether or not to extend the number of calamity days a school is allowed to call before missed days must be made-up.  The bill in question and a number of similar measures have been discussed in Ohio’s congress.
Included in these discussions are to lengthen the academic day by 30 minutes, as well as, producing “blizzard bags”, homework assigned to make up for lost days, are both methods included in discussion to prevent cutting into days of summer vacation.
Some Senators have taken a different approach by suggesting that the school year in itself should be increased from 182 to 220 days. (OMG!)
Although the bill passed in the Senate, the House has proposed and voted on their own plan, which would extend the amount of calamity days to nine instead of the current five.  And on top of all that, Governor Kasich, though expressing a desire to increase calamity days, has not signed either of the proposals into law. 
This year was host to one of the coldest winters in Ohio’s recorded history.  And it may soon result in several changes to current state policy for years to come.  Let’s hope the governor saw my sign!