RIPLEY — The severe weather and ensuing school closures has necessitated a revision in the district calendar for the current school year, Ripley Central School Board of Education members learned at their meeting in February.

District Superintendent William Caldwell told the board that, while the previously approved calendar shows the last student day as June 20, students will have to remain in classes a little longer. “June 23 , 24, 25 and 26 were to be days off, but Mother Nature said no,” he said.

Caldwell asked the board to approve a revised calendar with the last day of school being June 26. However, he said, if there are no more school closures, students will only need to attend on the 23rd and 24 of June . “If we don’t need the 25th and 26th, if we don’t have any more snow days, we’ll be done on the 24th,” he said.

The board subsequently approved the revised calendar. The notation on the district website reads “Additional Days of Attendance if Needed (in order): June 23 , 24, 25, 26.”

In a related matter, when students return from Spring Break on February 24, they will begin a week of Spirit Activities, ending with Read Across America Day on February 28 .

National Read Across America Day is traditionally celebrated on March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Since March 2 is a Sunday, the event was observed on Feb. 28

In other business, Board President Paul McCutcheon referenced an article which he saw in the Dunkirk OBSERVER on Jan. 11, headlined “Ripley: Small district big on unneeded posts.” The article questioned the need for the Ripley Central School District to have as much administration as it does.

The editorial proposes that the Ripley District is wasting taxpayers dollars by having both a superintendent and a principal for so few students. “Does a district that small need both a principal and a superintendent that likely costs $350,000 in salaries and benefits for that population? Probably not,” it said. “But it’s taxpayer dollars, not private money, so that gets spent more freely.”

Ripley Principal Sara Centanni immediately responded she could easily explain why both positions are needed, just by examining what she and Mr. Caldwell do every day.

McCutcheon said the writer of the editorial should speak to the administration of the district before asking such questions. “I would prefer if they have questions, that they show up here and ask those questions and find out the truth,” he said.

In another matter, Computer Skill/Library Instructor Karen Kondrick presented information on the enthusiasm with reading and writing that she is witnessing. “What is the impact of your reading on your teaching, I ask the teachers,” she said. “We want to become a community of readers.”

Kondrick talked about the 50 Book Challenge and how the students are really enjoying reading book after book. The challenge includes a template with 50 books that each participant can check off as they complete them. “You should see how many books have already been read, just since January,” she said.

Kondrick also spoke to the board about students’ writing activities, noting that they now have the opportunity to have their writing published. Each student submitted a composition of 100 words or less, she said, and 30 kids were selected for their writing to go into the book. “The whole purpose is to gets kids’ writing published,” she said.

Kondrick said she gets interested in contests by saying, “Oh, look, there’s a contest going on, if you want to do it, and they become interested,” she said. “Also, I did make a Google Classroom for them.”

Another idea which appealed to many students was writing a letter to an elder, Kondrick said. “They are more than happy to do that,” she said. “A couple of kids wrote two letters. They are enjoying writing, and they see their teachers writing, too.”

Kondrick said the example of the teachers has been instrumental for the students developing a love of reading and writing. “I think our teachers are doing a lot of reading and writing and the kids see that,” she said.