NO HOLIDAY

Janet St. James reports

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NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — While Monday is a holiday for most Americans, some North Texas students had to wake up early and head to school.

Classes were in session for the Irving, Castleberry, Cedar Hill, Birdville and Everman school districts. It is a make-up day for a winter storm that shut down many area schools on January 28.

At Thomas Elementary in North Richland Hills, class was in session and hot dogs were on the menu.

School was required for all 22,000 students at 31 campuses in the Birdville Independent School District. It was a move that did not sit well with those who wanted to honor family veterans.

"We're very respectful of what this holiday means," said Mark Thomas, a BISD spokesman, who has talked with several disgruntled parent. "January 28 we had that major ice storm come through and the state of Texas requires us to make up two bad weather makeup days. And unfortunately, at that point, one of them had already passed. So, the only other option on our calendar was to be made up today."

Violeta Lopez, a second grade teacher, said many in her second grade class aren't from the United States. So, she said Memorial Day at school turned out to be a time to teach the children about the holiday.

"I think it's a good thing because the kids here have the opportunity to understand more about what Memorial Day is," she said.

Other area school districts closed some or all of their campuses at the height of the swine flu scare, but they were counting on waivers from state education officials to avoid the need to extend the school year.

E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com