Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Under the new policy, schools may open before Labor Day if they have been closed for bad weather an average of eight days in five of the last 10 years.
The former policy required schools to have been closed an average of 10 days in five of the last 10 years to open before Labor Day.
The state Board of Education has approved the change to help school systems, especially in the western part of the state, adjust their schedules for ice, snow and other weather-related conditions.
"It is an effort to provide more flexibility for school systems which miss a lot of days because of bad weather," said James Jones, president of the board.
The state board also has voted to urge the General Assembly to repeal the Labor Day opening law.
"We feel this is a matter for local school boards to decide," Jones said Monday. "We feel this is not a matter to be regulated at the state level.''
Jones said that, as far as he knows, this is the first time the state board has requested repeal of the law.
School divisions in the southwestern part of the state have said they need to begin the school year early so they don't have to cancel spring break and push the closing of school until the middle of June.
Because of so much bad weather last winter, the state board approved a one-time waiver of the rules on pre-Labor Day openings for 15 school divisions. School systems were allowed to open before Labor Day this year if they were closed at least 10 days in the past year for bad weather and if they agreed to close Sept. 6 and 7 for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.
The board also allowed 19 school systems to open before Labor Day because they qualified under the former 10-day rule, bringing the total opening early to 34.
If the new policy had been in effect this year, 46 of the state's 134 school systems would have been eligible for a waiver. Most are in Southwest Virginia.
Among the localities that would qualify under the new guidelines are the counties of Alleghany, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Henry, Pulaski and Rockbridge. All school systems in far Southwest Virginia would qualify.
School divisions that would not be eligible include Radford, Roanoke, Salem and the counties of Bedford, Botetourt, Montgomery and Roanoke.
The Labor Day opening law was passed eight years ago at the urging of the tourist industry, which argued that opening schools before Labor Day hurt tourism.
Several efforts have been made in recent years in the General Assembly to repeal the law, but tourism lobbyists have persuaded the legislature to keep it.
Repealing the law would resolve the issue and remove the confusion surrounding waivers and who can begin early, Jones said.
Unlike in Virginia, the tourist industry doesn't seem to play a role in school openings in the Carolinas, Maryland and New Jersey. In those states, local systems are free to choose their opening dates; some start classes in mid-August.
by CNB