Orange County students to have make-up school day Thanksgiving week due to Hurricane Dorian

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County students will now have to make up two days of school because of Hurricane Dorian, but parents are wondering why one of those days needs to be during the week of a holiday.

Students were supposed to be off the entire week of Thanksgiving, but will now have to come to school that Monday.

The last time students had to make up a day during Thanksgiving week was during Hurricane Irma, when an estimated 75,000 students were absent from school that Monday.

A spokesperson from Orange County Public Schools told Channel 9 there were only so many days to choose from to make up for the missed days.

Scott Howtat said a committee helps decide the calendar and has to juggle a lot of factors, including testing dates and union contract requirements.

With travel plans, some parents said their kids likely won't be at school the holiday week.

"We'll try our best to get our son there if those are the days it has to be, but I'd like to see some other options presented from OCPS," said Kathy Lawson.

The other make-up day is Friday, October 18, but students are off that Thursday for a teacher work day.

The district is talking with the teachers union to see if those days can be swapped, but the union president told Channel 9 she's checking to see if the days can be waived.