Clinton County Board of Education has opted to try out a new internet-related school day plan that is still in the pilot stages that could further assist school districts in making up missed school days at the end of the school year.

The board, at a special call meeting last Thursday morning, April 30, voted to approve the “Non-Traditional School Day Plan” which would be put into effect on a trial basis beginning with the 2015-16 school year.

Superintendent Charlotte Bernard explained to the board that the new program has been approved by the legislature and is a pilot program which was used this past year in Taylor County.

It is a cyber-internet program that would actually allow students–who have access to the internet or not–to receive instruction even on snow days missed by doing homework via their home computers and those without internet could be given work assignments to complete within a certain time to make up a day in which school in the classroom is actually missed.

Clinton County requested three such cyber-internet days to be used if necessary as make-up days next year and the first would not be used until at least five days of school is missed.

Assignments would be kept in a cyber folder and parents who do not have access can request it and one would be delivered to the student to keep up with the work assignment.

Teachers can also use the net to teach from home with their computers with different types of internet related teaching programs.

Bernard noted that last year, Clinton County students missed some 16 days of school–while other districts missed even more.

The new non-traditional cyber-net days may not even have to be used if five or less school days are missed throughout the school year. If one or all are used, it would be counted as an instructional “make-up” day meaning those days would not have to be added onto the end of the school year.

All board members thought the new plan was a good idea, and another way to ensure that school can be out before June of each year by using the non-traditional days to make up class days missed while still providing instruction to students.

A motion to approved the plan was made by Board Member Kevin Marcum and passed 5-0, with Board Member Junior Cecil being absent.