In Illinois, public districts must have a minimum of 176 student attendance days in a school year. To ensure that requirement is met, districts must include at least 185 days on their calendar.
Districts build at least five emergency days, better known as “snow days” since they’re often because of inclement weather, into their calendar. These days have to be made up in some way to meet the required number of student attendance days.
Often, that means pushing out the last day of school.
But, if a district has an approved e-learning plan, they may choose to conduct classes remotely in lieu of a snow day. E-learning days are treated like student attendance days, so they don’t have to be made up. Districts can have a maximum of 5 e-learning days.
Once a district exhausts all of its built in snow days, and all e-learning days if they have them, they can request the state superintendent grant an “Act of God Day.” These days don’t have to be made up.
Here’s when select metro-east schools are now set to wrap up their school year:
Belleville Township High School District 201
Current last day for students: Friday, May 23. Seniors’ last day is Friday, May 9. Both are full days of school.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Friday, May 23.
When is high school graduation? Saturday, May 17.
How many snow days did District 201 take? The district took five e-learning days and no snow days.
Belleville School District 118
Current last day for students: Friday, May 30. It is a half day.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Thursday, May 22.
How many snow days did Belleville 118 take? Belleville 118 schools took all 5 of its budgeted snow days. They did not have any e-learning days.
Belle Valley School District 119
Current last day for students: Thursday, May 29. Students are dismissed early.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Wednesday, May 21.
How many snow days did Belle Valley take? Belle Valley took five snow days and didn’t have any e-learning days.
A sign advertising the city of Belleville stands near a snow-covered wreathe with icicles in the background on Jan. 6, 2025. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat
Harmony-Emge School District 175
Current last day for students: Thursday, May 22. Students are dismissed early.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Thursday, May 22.
How many snow days did Harmony Emge School District take? Harmony Emge took five e-learning days, but no snow days. Because of this, they didn’t need to push back the last day of school.
Whiteside School District 115
Current last day for students: Thursday, May 29. Students are dismissed early.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Wednesday, May 21.
How many snow days did Whiteside take? Whiteside took five snow days, and did not take any e-learning days.
Wolf Branch School District 113
Current last day for students: Friday, May 23. Students are dismissed early.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Thursday, May 22.
How many snow days did Wolf Branch take? Wolf Branch took one snow day and four e-learning days.
East St. Louis on Jan. 6, 2025, after two nights of heavy snowfall. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat
East St. Louis School District 189
Current last day for students: Friday, May 23; it’s a full day of student attendance.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Thursday, May 22.
When is East St. Louis’ graduation: Graduation is on Tuesday, May 20, and was not impacted by snow days.
How many snow days did East St. Louis take? East St. Louis used five e-learning days, five snow days, and one “Act of God” day.
The district offset its snow days by having students attend classes that they originally were scheduled to have off. In the end, the last day of school is delayed by just one day.
Collinsville Community Unit School District 10
Current last day for students: Thursday, May 22. It’s a full day of student attendance.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Tuesday, May 20. Seniors’ last day is Wednesday, May 7, unless they need to take finals, in which case it’s Friday, May 9. The seniors’ last days weren’t impacted by the snow days.
When is Collinsville’s graduation? Saturday, May 17. This was not impacted by snow days.
How many snow days did Collinsville take? Collinsville took two snow days and three e-learning days.
Mascoutah School District 19
Current last day for students: Friday, May 30, and students are dismissed early. Seniors’ last day, should they not have to take finals, is Tuesday, May 13; this wasn’t impacted by snow days.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Thursday, May 22.
When is Mascoutah’s graduation? Graduation is Sunday, May 18. This wasn’t changed because of snow days.
How many snow days did Mascoutah take? The district took five snow days.
O’Fallon School District 90
Current last day for students: Tuesday, May 27. It’s a full day of attendance.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Thursday, May 22.
How many snow days did O’Fallon District 90 have? The district had two snow days and three e-learning days.
Central School District 104
Current last day for students: Friday, May 23. Students will be dismissed early.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Wednesday, May 21.
How many snow days did Central take? Central used two snow days and three e-learning days.
O’Fallon Township High School District 203
Current last day for students: Thursday, May 29. The calendar on the district’s website updated in February does not denote this as an early dismissal day.
Originally scheduled last day for students: Wednesday, May 21.
When is O’Fallon’s graduation? Saturday, May 31. This was not changed because of snow days.
How many snow days did District 203 have? District 203 took five snow days.
This story was originally published April 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
