Bryan County Schools has announced plans to make up four of the seven instructional days missed due to weather this school year.

The district has waived the other three days. Bryan County Schools was approved for a “strategic waiver” program by the State Board of Education that gives the district more flexibility on things like its academic calendar in exchange for meeting certain performance benchmarks.

Students will now return from winter break on Jan. 3, 2017, instead of Jan. 5. Staff will return on Jan. 2 instead of Jan. 4. Students and staff will also report on Feb. 17 and 20, which were both previous student and staff holidays.

Classes were canceled Oct. 6, 7 and 10-13 due to Hurricane Matthew. Oct. 14 had already been scheduled as a day off to mark the end of the fourth quarter. Classes were also canceled Sept. 2 due to Tropical Storm Hermine.

 “The recent weather-related school closings heavily impacted our students and staff by causing them to miss seven instructional days,” said Superintendent Paul Brooksher in a news release. “I appreciate the support received from our Board of Education in the recent plan for student and staff make-up days and recognize this as a demonstration of the value they place on education.”

Schools will provide students with the make-up schedule information. It can also be found on the Bryan County Schools website at www.bryan.k12.ga.us.