Official last day of school set for South Lake Tahoe students

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Each year the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) Board of Education approves a calendar with three snow days built into the school year. Should there be more than three snow days, decisions have to be made: move the last day of school or apply to the State of California for a waiver on the extra days, thus giving students fewer than the required days in the classroom.

During the 2018/19 school year there were not only six snow days, but also an extra day off for Tahoe Valley Elementary students, and four days where Bijou Community School, Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School, and Sierra House elementary schools could not open due to building issues including fire and a gas leak.

LTUSD has applied for a waiver from the State of California but it could still be another four-five weeks before they are informed if granted. Since that would take the school district up to the final planned week of school, or beyond, LTUSD has decided the last day of school will be as originally planned, Tuesday, June 18.

Should the State not grant LTUSD the approval of the fewer days for the school year, the district would lose $231,780 a day in Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding for the snow days. The district gets approximately $60 per students for ADA and there are 3,863 students currently enrolled district-wide. The price tag could total closer to $1,000,000 when adding the extra closed days at the elementary schools.