INDIANA — Public schools across Indiana may be required to make up days missed due to snow or other weather-related closures this school year, depending on how those missed days are addressed in district calendars and whether virtual learning options are used.
Under state law, all public school corporations in Indiana are generally required to provide a minimum of 180 instructional days during each academic year. That baseline applies regardless of weather disruptions and is tied to state requirements for instructional time.
Districts have several tools available to meet that requirement when snow or hazardous conditions force school closures:
- Traditional makeup days: If a school cancels in-person classes due to snow, districts can add days to the end of the school year, use built-in extra days, or adjust the calendar to make up the lost instructional time.
- eLearning (remote learning) days: Indiana law allows schools to use up to three asynchronous eLearning dayseach school year. These are virtual days where students complete work online at their own pace and still count toward required instructional time. Schools may use additional synchronous eLearning days — live, teacher-led virtual instruction — with no specific statutory limit.
- Extended school days or hours: Some districts may choose to extend daily instructional hours rather than add full makeup days at the end of the school year. This approach must still satisfy the 180-day instructional requirement.
How a district handles missed days is largely a local decision, based on each school corporation’s calendar and educational plan. If a district exhausts all available built-in makeup days and eLearning options without reaching the required number of instructional hours or days, additional makeup days will typically be added to the calendar — often extending the school year beyond the previously scheduled last day…