Local students may be singing “Let it snow, let it snow,” but weather-related cancellations could affect their end-of-year release date or, worse, their weekends.

Watauga County Schools have been closed due to wintry weather five days in the 2008-09 year. By N.C. state law, public schools are required to have 180 days of instruction.

School-system public relations director Marshall Ashcraft said the county’s make-up plan allows for the missed days to be added to the end of the year. He added there are alternatives for bad weather dismissal make-up.

One make-up has been designated. Friday, Dec. 19 was on the calendar as a teacher work-day and a full day off for students. WCS has decided to designate the day as an early-release work-day. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade would be released at noon. Watauga High School would release students at 1 p.m. The early-release will count toward the 180 total as an instructional day .

Teachers would then use the remainder of the day as a work session.

Delays and early-release days do not affect the number of instructional days, according to Ashcraft. The state mandates a certain number of classroom hours per year. However, Ashcraft said WCS easily meets that requirement, notwithstanding delays and early-release.

A second alternative for snow day make-up would be Saturday operation. If the school system reaches 10 bad-weather dismissals, the state allows Saturday instruction. Ashcraft said, if implemented, the Saturday make-up would follow in the same week as the snow day.

With five snow days on record by Dec. 1, WCS is on pace to exceed the figures for the previous year — six snow days were taken in 2007-08. Those days were made-up at the end of the year, extending the release day. In 2007, WCS were projected to be released on a Friday, May 16. The last day of school was Monday, May 28.

The National Weather Service forecast office in Blacksburg, Va., said Boone has received approximately 7 inches of snow and ice since October. Winter officially begins on Dec. 21.