ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 9, 1996 TAG: 9601090029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Children in Western Virginia played in the snow Monday while school chiefs worried that snowdrifts, frigid temperatures and ice could keep them out of classes for several days.
"It doesn't look good for the whole week," Franklin County Superintendent Leonard Gereau said. "I think it'll be Thursday at the earliest before we can reopen."
Unless temperatures rise substantially, Roanoke Superintendent Wayne Harris doubts schools can reopen until near the end of the week. Daily highs in the 30s are predicted for the next few days.
If more snow falls Thursday or Friday - the weather service says that's a possibility - schools could be closed the rest of the week, Harris said.
If schools can't open until Friday, officials will have to decide whether it is practical and economical to heat up the buildings for only one day and then close them for the weekend, he said.
All schools in the Roanoke and New River valleys are closed today. Officials will decide this afternoon whether they will remain closed Wednesday and possibly Thursday. Most other school systems in Western Virginia are also closed.
"It will probably take us through Wednesday to clear the parking lots, sidewalks and access roads to the schools," Pulaski County Superintendent William Asbury said.
"The kids are enjoying the snow," Asbury said. "I can see them from my front window. And I think some adults are, too."
Montgomery County would like to open by Wednesday, but that's doubtful, Superintendent Herman Bartlett said.
With winter not even halfway over, few children and parents want to think about losing part of their spring vacations.
But that is already a possibility in some localities if schools stay closed all or most of the week.
If Roanoke County schools remain closed through Wednesday, students will lose one day of spring break because they will have used the first three allotted snow days included in the schedule. If they miss Thursday, they'll have to go to school on Memorial Day.
If Roanoke misses most of the week, Harris said, the city will have to consider shortening spring break because it will have reached the end of its makeup days.
Before the latest snowstorm, Western Virginia schools had missed only one day, but this is just the beginning of January, Botetourt Superintendent Clarence McClure pointed out.
"We usually have our roughest weather in late January and February," McClure said. "It's still early in the winter, and we're going to miss at least several days this week."
Salem will try to preserve its spring break by having school on teacher work days or Saturdays because the School Board and community prefer that approach, Superintendent Wayne Tripp said.
Botetourt will also try to save most of its break by tacking on makeup days at the end of the school year after the allotted snow days are used, McClure said.
Some localities, such as Franklin and Roanoke counties, use a mix of makeup days and "banked time," a system that allows localities to take credit for regular school days that run longer than the state requires.
Banked time may be used after a school system makes up five of its bad-weather days. But Roanoke does not use this approach because, Harris said, he is philosophically opposed to the concept.
The latest snowstorm has brought back memories of the 1993-94 academic year, when some school systems in the Roanoke and New River valleys missed 17 days because of bad weather.
School buildings apparently didn't suffer as much damage in the latest storm as two years ago, when officials had to deal with leaky roofs, fallen trees and no power. But officials said Monday they had not checked all schools, and some expected minor damage.
James Gallion, Roanoke County's assistant superintendent, said the county's exams might have to be delayed this year if schools are closed several days.
Exams are scheduled to begin next week; but many children did not take their books home this past weekend, so they cannot study while schools are closed, he said.
"We might have to re-evaluate our exam schedule if the children are out several days," Gallion said. Roanoke could face a similar problem because it has a review period for students before the exams begin, Harris said.
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