To say this appears to be an extremely cold and endless winter that has wreaked havoc would be an understatement.

This, combined with uncertainty for school districts regarding extra calamity days, has left administrators and teachers scrambling to ensure the elements in the curriculum are met while allowing the needed instruction time for students to adequately learn the material. Factor in students and parents who are faced with mountains of homework each evening.

However, as of Wednesday, the bill to extend the calamity days has stalled in the Ohio Legislature.

This is an unfortunate situation for all involved and certainly is not a typical winter, but we encourage the state board of education and the Ohio Legislature to move forward and provide a decision so the districts can develop plans for their schools and meet the needs of their students throughout the state for the remainder of this school year.

Most, if not all of the school districts within the county, have already reached the allotment of calamity days afforded by the state. However, many districts have had to petition the state to receive additional days to combat the number of educational days missed above the allocation.

The state is making the right call making changes to the way snow days are calculated in the future, as starting in the 2014-2015 school year, the districts will make the transition from days to hours.