Schools that canceled classes due to the extreme winter conditions may not have to make up the day of missed instruction. “The Elkhart Truth” reports that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz has authorized schools to apply for a one-day waiver from the required 180 days of instruction. The waiver was initially offered after school districts across the state canceled classes on Monday. However, the director of the office of accreditation for the education department told the paper that the waiver will be offered to schools on Tuesday as well. He says the waiver means that schools can escape the “very severe financial penalty” they would otherwise incur by canceling one day of instruction. The waiver has only been used a few times in the past several years to offset instructional days lost due to severe weather. School districts typically build in makeup days in the event of snow, but if they miss more days than they have built into the calendar they’re forced to extend the school year into summer vacation in order to meet the state’s requirements.