Ready for snow days

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Gov. Mark Sanford raised the ire of a some local legislators when, about a month into his new term as governor, he vetoed a harmless and perfectly understandable piece of legislation to forgive some snow days in Greenville County. Some local lawmakers were particularly upset because the governor had not discussed his imminent vetoes with them. Legislators voted to override Sanford's vetoes in much less time than it took Duke Power to restore electricity after a December ice storm that left tens of thousands in the dark and cold for days.

Sanford stood firm on a solid constitutional principle that prohibits legislation that affects one county instead of the entire state. Unfortunately, legislation did not exist at the time to allow for local decisions.

To his credit, Sanford made good on his promise to pursue legislation that would give more flexibility to local school boards. The governor was in town Wednesday to sign the bill that will give local authorities more flexibility in forgiving missed school days. He was joined by House Speaker David Wilkins, other local legislators and Greenville Superintendent Bill Harner.

The new law requires school districts to build three snow days into their calendars, and it specifies how schools can make up time lost when bad weather or other problems make it impossible to open a school's doors. It also gives the state Legislature the power to waive the 180-day minimum attendance requirement or allow local districts to do so. In short, it gives local officials the tools they need when dealing with exceptional circumstances.