ALPENA — The Michigan Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would forgive school days canceled during a snow emergency early this year, but with a change that could affect school districts.

House Bill 4206, which would forgive snow days called by schools at the end of January during a state-declared emergency, passed 38-0 on Tuesday. The Senate amended the bill, earlier approved by the House, to only allow for four snow days instead of the five days allotted in the earlier version of the bill.

A state of emergency was declared by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from Jan. 28 to Feb. 2, when an arctic freeze hit the state. The Senate has amended the bill to cover only Jan. 29 to Feb. 2. Because Feb. 2 was a Saturday, school districts would not have to make up any snow days called between Jan. 29 and Feb. 1 if the bill passes.

State law requires schools to provide a minimum number of days and hours each school year. Districts wouldn’t have to seek a waiver for those four days covered by the legislation and could count them as instructional hours that qualify for state aid.

The bill now goes back to the House for more debate over the Senate’s changes. If the House OKs the Senate’s changes, the bill will go to Whitmer for her approval.

Alpena Public Schools has had 19 snow days this school year. Six of those are automatically forgiven by an already existing state law and three additional days are forgiven through a standard Michigan Department of Education waiver.

The district added school on April 19 to make up lost time. If the bill passes, the district would have to make up five days in June.

Superintendent John VanWagoner said the district is still in limbo about when the last day of school is. He has been asked a ton by parents and staff about when the last day is, but cannot give a definite answer until the bill is passed.

“I’ll go before the board if it passes to see what we should do,” VanWagoner said Tuesday. “We will figure out what best fits the district.”

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.