Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991 TAG: 9103200105
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: ELLISTON LENGTH: Short
Because the school system has not used five snow days it had built into its calendar, two days will be added to the spring break.
Schools will now dismiss at the end of the day next Wednesday and will reopen April 3. The Thursday before Good Friday and the Tuesday after Easter have been added as vacation days.
The other three snow days will be used by closing schools on Memorial Day and ending the school year two days early on June 10.
Superintendent Harold Dodge told the School Board of the changes at their meeting Tuesday at Elliston-Lafayette Elementary School.
The board also voted 5-0 to participate in an early retirement plan approved by this year's General Assembly.
Employees who are eligible for early retirement will have from April 1 to June 30 to apply. Gov. Douglas Wilder hasn't signed the early retirement bill, but is expected to, board members were told.
Finally, board members spent part of their meeting fielding questions from seniors from the various county high schools.
Students were concerned about cuts in the coming school year's proposed budget. Dodge assured them that most of the teachers who have lost their jobs to budget cuts have been placed in other jobs where teachers have retired or quit. The county's turnover is about 35 teachers a year, Dodge said.
Board members seemed eager to explain the budget cuts to students. Chairman Marty Childress compared the board's budget decisions to the choices teen-agers must make when spending their weekly allowance.
by CNB