ALPENA — Pending the governor’s signature on House Bill 4345, the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education passed a resolution to forgive snow days caused by the ice storm.

House Bill 4345, a bill introduced by Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheybogan, passed the House on May 6 and passed the Senate on May 21. The bill reached the desk of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday and has yet to be signed, according to the bill’s history on the Michigan Legislature’s website.

The bill, if signed by Whitmer, would exempt school districts located in counties covered by the state of emergency from meeting the minimum of 1,098 hours and 180 days of pupil instruction for the 2024-2025 school year. Districts can exempt not more than 15 days for ice storm-related cancellations.

APS cancelled a total of seven days during the ice storm. The district had already used seven snow days prior to the storm, Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said at the special meeting.

Two letters were sent by community members and read during the meeting. Both letters urged the board not to add days to the end of the school year.

The special meeting took place on Saturday morning. That was the only time that enough board members could attend to meet quorum, board president Anna Meinhardt said. Board members Eric Hansen, Monica Dziesinski, and Sarah Fritz were present, along with Meinhardt.

After Rabbideau explained the process of snow day forgiveness and the reason for calling the special meeting, the board voted unanimously to pass the motion to exempt the district from the minimum number of hours and days of pupil instruction and approve the additional forgiven time for the period of March 31 through April 8, due to the declared state of emergency, and to authorize the superintendent to complete and submit all necessary documentation to finalize the approval.