ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Roanoke County students might start to school before Labor Day next school year because they have missed so many days because of snow in recent years.
The county is eligible for a waiver from the state ban on a pre-Labor Day opening because it has averaged missing nine days during five of the past 10 years.
Assistant Superintendent James Gallion said localities are allowed to open early if they have averaged missing eight days because of bad weather.
The School Board voted Thursday night to apply for a waiver, but it won't decide on the opening day until it receives a recommendation from the school system's calendar committee.
A pre-Labor Day opening is an option that the committee will consider, Superintendent Deanna Gordon said.
An early opening would make it easier to deal with snow days next year, but it won't help solve this year's predicament as the board tries to make up 13 missed days.
Two weeks ago, school officials developed a plan that would have preserved a full week of spring break in April by using five days of "banked time" and adding five minutes to the elementary school day.
Banked time is accumulated instructional time beyond the state minimum requirement of 51/2 hours a day, or 990 hours a year.
In addition, the makeup plan called for students to go to school on Memorial Day and four other days that had been scheduled either for parent-teacher conferences or teacher workdays.
But the county has missed two days since then, and the board must find a way to make them up.
It now appears students might lose two days of spring break - April 11 and 12 - unless the school day is lengthened and the school year is extended by one day.
"If you want to save the entire spring break, you need to find two more days," Gallion told the board.
Chairman Jerry Canada said some people don't think the board can justify a five-day spring break when students have missed 13 days.
Gordon said some parents don't like the idea of using banked time to make up days. "They feel we're not putting enough emphasis on instruction by using banked time."
Canada said the board would delay a decision on spring break and making up the latest two missed days until more results from a survey of parents are available.
On another matter, the board was told that budget requests for nonsalary items for the next school year are up by $3.6 million.
Jerry Hardy, director of budget and data management, said these requests do not include employee pay raises or additional teachers who will be needed for enrollment increases and expansion of the special education program.
A 3 percent raise for teachers and other employees would cost $1.7 million, and a 5 percent pay increase would cost $2.9 million, Hardy said. School officials estimate that the needed additional personnel would cost another $1.5 million.
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