ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Roanoke County students should prepare for a shorter vacation this summer because of the record snow and ice storms this winter that caused them to miss 13 days.
If there is more bad weather next winter that causes schools to close frequently, officials hope to be prepared.
County schools are expected to open Aug. 26 , a week earlier than usual, to allow school officials to include more makeup days in the calendar and avoid having to lengthen the school day or eliminate spring break.
The state Department of Education has granted the county a waiver from the ban on pre-Labor Day opening because it has missed so many days in recent years.
The county has averaged missing nine days because of bad weather in five of the past 10 years. Localities are eligible for a waiver if they have averaged missing eight days.
School officials have recommended the early opening date, and most School Board members say they agree. They are set to formally approve it next week.
Roanoke schools will open Sept. 3, the day after Labor Day, if the city School Board approves Superintendent Wayne Harris' recommended calendar.
Roanoke missed 12 days this winter, but it has closed schools fewer days because of snow and ice in recent years than the county has. Harris has proposed three snow makeup days for next year.
Salem has been granted a waiver that would allow it to begin before Labor Day, but it has not set an opening date. Salem has not missed enough days in recent years to qualify, but the state approved its request to open early because it shares some programs with Roanoke County.
Salem Superintendent Wayne Tripp said he would be surprised if the School Board doesn't vote to open before Labor Day.
Many school systems in the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia are eligible for waivers and frequently open before Labor Day. Montgomery County probably will open Aug. 26, although its School Board has not set a date, a spokesman said. Radford can't open before Labor Day because it does not qualify for a waiver.
By opening earlier, Roanoke County can include seven makeup days in the calendar before using "banked time" to make up missed days, said James Gallion, assistant superintendent.
Banked time is accumulated instructional time beyond the state minimum requirement of 51/2 hours a day, or 990 hours a year.
The county used seven banked days to help make up more than half of the missed 13 days this year so it could preserve its spring break, which is this week. The county also lengthened the school day by 10 minutes to accumulate more banked time.
This upset some parents because they didn't think school officials were putting enough emphasis on academics. Some wanted the schools to cancel spring break and make up all of the missed days so students would attend 180 days, the usual length of the school year. County students will attend school 173 days this year.
Other parents objected to the elimination of spring break, saying they had travel and vacation plans for their families.
School Board member Tom Leggette said some parents also are upset about the plan to open school early.
"Some people say they've already made plans for the last week in August, and this will conflict with their plans," Leggette said. "It's the same situation that arose when there was talk of eliminating spring break."
Gallion said there has been strong support for opening schools before Labor Day so more makeup days can be incorporated in the calendar. Parent advisory councils at 22 of the county's 27 schools favor a pre-Labor Day opening, he said.
The county has scheduled a week of spring break next year.
Roanoke, which eliminated three days of its spring break this week, is using only three days of banked time to make up missed days this year. City students will attend school 177 days this year.
Botetourt County probably will open the day after Labor Day again this year to provide enough time for contractors to finish construction of a new middle school and other school improvements, Superintendent Clarence McClure said.
The tourism lobby has persuaded the General Assembly to prohibit the pre-Labor Day opening of schools except in localities that qualify for a waiver because of bad weather.
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