Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993 TAG: 9303180311
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SNOW-DAY MAKEUPS UP TO SCHOOL SYSTEMS
When snow falls in the Roanoke Valley and most people think about staying in, Michael Bryant slips behind the wheel at 3 a.m. and heads for Salem's most dangerous streets.As assistant school superintendent, it's his job to determine whether the roads are safe for driving. Safe enough, that is, for the city's school buses.
"You've got to have firsthand knowledge if you're going to make an intelligent decision," he said. "But it's not the best job in the world. I've been fortunate not to have any real close scrapes."
Unlike administrators in Roanoke and Roanoke County, Bryant deemed the roads in Salem safe Wednesday. That meant one less day for Salem schoolchildren to make up, while Roanoke students will spend Saturday hitting the books.
They won't, however, have to miss any of their spring break, as will students in all other valley schools.
Each jurisdiction has its own system for determining when to call off school for poor weather and when to make it up. But they all follow the same basic guidelines.
Localities must hold classes no less than 180 days each year or lose state funding. However, after making up five days of school missed for inclement weather, they may ask for a waiver for the next five days.
In most school systems, the decision about when to make up snow days is reached well before the first flakes begin to fall. Some have committees that plan school calendars and then submit them to principals, the superintendent and other administrators for approval. Others rely solely on the administration and school board to approve contingency plans.
But they don't always set aside enough alternatives.
Roanoke schools reserved Good Friday and Memorial Day in case of snow. But storms in December and February took both of those days, said Richard Kelley, the school system's executive for business.
Although Roanoke schools weren't scheduled to reopen until today following Saturday's blizzard, students in the city lost only two days this week because Monday had been set aside for a teacher work day, Kelley said.
To make up the days, administrators opted to open schools on two Saturdays rather than inconvenience people who already had made vacation plans for spring break, he said.
"Right now, it's so late in the year there aren't a lot of options," he said. "If we had this situation back in January, we might have made a different decision."
Roanoke County made up for December's storm on a parent conference day in February, but will make up for its four remaining snow days by canceling most of spring break, Assistant Superintendent Deanna Gordon said.
Salem will take two of its snow days during spring break. Botetourt County, which reserved four days at the end of its school year in June as contingencies, will cancel only one spring vacation day. Botetourt has called off school six times during the academic year for poor weather.
Administrators in each jurisdiction said they relied upon advice from test drivers, police or sheriff's departments, bus drivers and others when deciding whether to close. But ultimately, the decision rests with the superintendent.
While nobody asks the students their preferences when scheduling makeup days, Patrick Henry junior Pam Witten said that Saturday classes - which will end two hours earlier than on regular school days - are a much better deal than losing part of spring vacation.
"It doesn't feel like much of a break if it's only three or four days," she said.
And then there's this bonus for Salem students: Because of the snow, report cards and all of their consequences won't be issued until March 23.