CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY PETE DRURY - The Drury family makes the most out of recent frigid temperatures at their home near Gilman.

Another round of below-zero temperatures and icy conditions are set to hit central Iowa once again. The aggressive winter weather of late is set to impact when area schools get out for summer.

In recent years, the state has required schools to count the number of learning hours students must have per year. The minimum amount is 1,080 hours, but many schools build in more than that in part to provide cushion in case several days of school are missed or shortened because of weather.

“We’re kind of waiting it out and seeing as far as what we need to make up,” said Marshalltown Schools Communication Director Andrew Potter.

He said the exact end date for the current school year isn’t yet known because officials are waiting to decide on making up missed hours until winter ends. However, Potter did say the school year is set to go past the planned end date of June 4.

A similar story is unfolding at rural districts like West Marshall, East Marshall and Green Mountain-Garwin.

“We did have built-in days, just-in-case days, as always,” said West Marshall Superintendent Jacy Large.

His district has missed six full class days so far, but because of the cushion provided in the school calendar, students will only have to make up just over two days’-worth of hours as of Wednesday.

GMG Secondary School Principal Nathan Kleinmeyer said his district also has some cushion to work with when it comes to student hours.

“Our current schedule at GMG can withstand the seven days we’ve missed,” he said.

However, while the calendar can absorb the missed hours, he said staff at GMG are focused on making sure the students don’t miss out on any valuable learning because of the weather.

“For us … it’s about this is the learning that we need to make up,” Kleinmeyer said.

With mother nature capable of hitting the area with severe winter weather even into springtime, many districts don’t have a final idea of what exact date schools will be out for summer.

Here is the number of calendar days local districts have missed as of Wednesday (note: due to hours being counted rather than days, the number of days a district misses may not be the same as the number of days students must make up):

• Marshalltown: Four days missed

• West Marshall: Six days missed

• East Marshall: Seven days missed

• Green Mountain-Garwin: Seven days missed

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Contact Adam Sodders at

641-753-6611 or

asodders@timesrepublican.com