By Jolene FarleyThe Hills-Beaver Creek School District may have to change the school calendar to make up two snow days.The H-BC School Board and Superintendent Dave Deragisch explored options at their Monday meeting."We’re at minus two days right now and counting," said Deragisch.He showed the board the current school calendar and made suggestions for makeup dates.Options included a whole day of classes instead of a half-day on Thursday, Feb. 12, a full day either Friday, Feb. 13, Monday, Feb. 16, Monday, April 12 (Easter Monday), or at the end of the school year on Tuesday, June 1, and Wednesday, June 2.Deragisch suggested having class a full day today and rescheduling the affected elementary conferences. Talking to parents by phone could be an option for the teachers, according to Deragisch."It’s going to put a little more pressure on staff to reschedule," he said. Deragisch said scheduling classes on Friday and Monday of this week would cause conflicts because some staff members have purchased tickets for trips or made plans."We have a number of conflicts," he said. "I don’t know if we could find enough subs to cover the conflicts we have."Deragisch cautioned that the district could have more snow days to make up yet this year.Since the state no longer requires a minimum number of class days, the board could change the school calendar, if the staff agreed.A number of sporting events were also postponed due to the weather.Heating systemDeragisch reported that two companies looked at the heating system in the high school. At last month’s meeting, he told the board that over Christmas break a defective thermostat on the third floor allowed temperatures to climb to more than 90 degrees. Other areas in the building also have thermostats that aren’t accurate and parts for the heating system are no longer manufactured.Repairmen suggested removing or capping some of the radiators to solve the problem. After walking through the building, one of the companies estimated $100,000 to revamp the heating system. The other company suggested using wrenches as a quick fix to turn down the heat or spending $25,000 on repairs. "I think we are going to keep using the wrenches," Deragisch said."When the bills come in at the end of this month, hopefully we can see a decline."Choir tripHigh School Choir Director Jodi Ackerman presented the itinerary for a choir trip to Minneapolis in May. More than 20 students are interested in the trip. The group will tour the State Capitol and St. Paul’s Cathedral, attend the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre and a performance of the Pirates of Penzance at the Guthrie Theater, and shop at the Mall of America. "We do have some chaperones lined up and they are aware we don’t have the funds to pay for them and they are very willing to pay," Ackerman said.Crisis preventionAt the Monday, Jan. 26, high school in-service, staff reviewed the high school crisis prevention plan. The plan was implemented last fall at the elementary school when an escaped prisoner from South Dakota was reportedly heading to Beaver Creek.Staff members at the high school are now familiar with the procedure and are prepared in case the need arises to use the plan.
