Fairfax County Public Schools Working On Makeup Plan For Last Snow Day

Fairfax County Public School students will already be in school until June 24 in order to make up snow days.

But the FCPS calendar only builds in makeup plans for 10 snow days, so that is as far as the calendar goes for now.

The winter of 2013-14 will go in the books as the snowiest winter since the 2009-10 “Snowmageddeon,” which shut down the system for more than a week straight.

Monday’s 11-inch storm — a rarity for Northern Virginia in March — was No. 11 for FCPS students this year.

Virginia law requires public schools to provide at least 180 days or 990 hours of instructional time annually. But it also allows the state Board of Education to waive the requirement if districts shut down in the aftermath of a state of emergency declared by the governor. A state of emergency has been declared twice this winter, including during the snow storm on March 3.

FCPS was last granted a waiver from the requirement in 2010 following the nearly two feet of snow that fell in back-to-back February storms.  The district needed to schedule five make-up days, but only found time for four in the spring calendar. The board waived the requirement for the fifth make up day.

FCPS spokesman John Torre said the system is looking at a variety of options but no decisions have been made.

“Several options could be considered including adding another day at the end of the year, adding minutes to the school day or seeking a waiver from the state,” he said.  “No decision has been made yet as to which option will be pursued.”

Students will also attend school on April 7, which was a previously scheduled teacher workday. It will be a full day for elementary students, who otherwise usually have early release on Mondays.