By JIM BUTLER

Discussed to a Fair thee well earlier this month, calendar options are back on the School Board special meeting agenda today.

Two schools of thought are in play: provide a Friday holiday during Rapides Parish Fair week, or link that Friday with Thursday of the following week for Fall break.

The latter is the schedule initially posted for public comment.

Both options have support among board members who discussed the matter at length at their regular January meeting, then pushed it to the special gathering for further consideration.

The board will also consider declaring an emergency for damage and loss from this week’s snow and ice and authorizing cleanup and repairs.

Costs of such would be paid from the Special Reserve Fund, with any subsequent insurance or disaster declaration reimbursements paid back into the SRF.

The SRF is money set aside for extraordinary or unanticipated major expense, regardless of ward or district involved.

According to the current year budget the fund balance was $21.3 million on July 1.

It is a hedge against the unexpected created by the board some years back, part of the recovery plan from once-dire financial times.