Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 18, 1994 TAG: 9401180030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But each day that roads disappear under ice and snow, a day also disappears off the spring vacation week for several Western Virginia school systems.
Today's canceled school day brings to three the number of vacation days lost to Roanoke County families and school employees.
Pulaski County lost one already and could lose another. And, if the harsh winter weather continues, it could mean shorter breaks for Franklin County and Roanoke kids as well.
"It looks like we're going to have a rough winter," said Franklin County Transportation Supervisor Don Ranson.
Like most school systems in the Roanoke and New River valleys, Franklin County has reached the end of its allotted snow days. It still has Memorial Day to sacrifice before it has to shorten spring vacation, but Ranson isn't optimistic.
"I don't think it's going to do any thawing out," he said.
Not everybody is willing to shorten the spring holiday to make up for bad weather. In Salem, School Board members recently opted to shift teacher workdays to Saturdays to make up for snow closings. Botetourt County and Radford prefer to tack makeup days onto the end of the school year.
Some, such as Pulaski County, resort to 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.
Roanoke uses the midsemester vacation only as a last resort - one it may reach if it has to shut down for snow another three or four days.
But others are resigned to losing their long holiday break.
"I think most of us are well aware that it's just a situation you have no control over," said Roanoke County Education Association President Debbie McClure.
Still, it can be frustrating.
"It's not even snow," she said Monday as she looked out the window at the freezing rain. "It's so ugly out here."
The wintry weather not only makes it dangerous to drive, said Ranson, it sometimes makes it difficult to get the school buses started.
He asked his drivers to start their buses and idle the motors several times during the past weekend, when temperatures dropped below zero. One driver could not start the bus engine.
Cold engines can delay school openings even when the roads are safe for driving, he said. His drivers may need the extra time to jump-start their engines.
And then there's the question of exposure.
"With these temperatures the way they are, it's dangerous for anyone to be outdoors," Ranson said, "let alone kids."
Staff writers Brian Kelley and Paul Dellinger contributed to this story.
by CNB