SNOW DRIFTS KEEP MONTGOMERY SCHOOL BUILDINGS SHUT

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 17, 1993                   TAG: 9303170177
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS and KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
SNOW DRIFTS KEEP MONTGOMERY SCHOOL BUILDINGS SHUT
Montgomery County Schools will remain closed today not only because of snowy roads but also because of snowbound buildings.
The school system has employed its own forces but also has had to bring in outside contractors to help clear snow, which drifted higher than 6 feet against some buildings, Superintendent of Schools Harold Dodge said.
Schools also will be closed today in Pulaski, Floyd and Giles counties. At press time, Radford school officials had not decided whether to reopen today.
In Montgomery County, four-fifths of the county's 20 schools have been affected by drifting snow, Dodge said.
The county used up the last snow day built into its school calendar on Tuesday. School officials now must decide when to hold school to compensate for today's closing.
The top two options being considered are extending the school year or extending some school days, Dodge said.
The school system also could do away with one day of its two-day spring break or could hold school on a Saturday. But Dodge said Saturday classes usually don't draw enough students to make them feasible.
Another possibility would be to hold school Friday, when students are supposed to be off for a parent-teacher conference day, Dodge said.
In Radford, Superintendent Michael Wright said while the roads were becoming clear, officials still had to clear school sidewalks and parking lots. He said he would decide later Tuesday if city schools would open today.
"In some places, we had drifts that were chest-deep," Wright said.
In Floyd County, Sheriff Tom Higgins said some of the secondary roads remained closed Tuesday, but Virginia 8 and 221 were useable.
Besides highway department workers, Higgins said, farmers were using their tractors to clear roads and a few people were using snowmobiles for transportation.
Ken Weaver, Giles County's administrator, said the Board of Supervisors would meet Tuesday night and probably would declare an emergency situation.
U.S. 460 and Virginia 100 were passable, but it may be Thursday or Friday before secondary roads are cleared, said Weaver.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB