In school divisions across the Fredericksburg region, finance officials haven't been the only ones focused on numbers lately.
Maintenance and administration personnel have been studying figures such as inches of snow, degrees below freezing and snow days accumulated.
With additional snow last night and still more expected, many area systems closed schools today. And with subfreezing temperatures ahead, it doesn't take a crack statistician to calculate the odds of more snow days this week.
Spotsylvania Assistant Superintendent James Meyer said high winds predicted for today, coupled with the snow already on tree branches and power lines, create the risk of electrical outages--especially with additional snow, he said. All this creates challenges for personnel who get schools ready to reopen.
As of today, Spotsylvania students had taken eight snow days. Five of them were to be made up starting this Friday and then continuing on Monday, which is Presidents Day, March 12, April 1 and April 2.
But if Spotsylvania's schools remain closed for the rest of the week, Friday's makeup day won't happen. Students don't make up their sixth through 10th snow days, school officials say.
However, if students miss this entire week, their tally would hit 10 and any more days could be added to the school year at the discretion of the School Board.
Stafford County students have missed nine days as of today, and school administrators have already decided to close again tomorrow for a 10th day off.
The division's 2009-10 calendar calls for a makeup day on Presidents Day, but no decision had been made as of yesterday on whether it would be used that way.
Other makeup days on the calendar include this Friday, April 2 and May 28--which are now early dismissal days--as well as April 19, June 21 and June 22.
Superintendent David Sawyer said he would provide other options to the School Board on Monday and may have a recommendation by then.
Options may include making up days during spring break--April 5 through 9--or adding time to the school day, said schools spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim.
"It could include just about anything," Cottongim said. She said the division held school on a Saturday several years ago.
Stafford School Board Chairwoman Dana Reinboldt said she didn't "even want to try to guess" how the board would respond before it meets.
The board is also considering starting the school year a week earlier next academic year but Reinboldt called this year's weather an anomaly and downplayed its impact on the calendar decision.
The earlier start date would give students more instructional time to prepare for standardized tests and other exams, officials have said.
Fredericksburg schools had used seven snow days as of today but hadn't made any decisions about makeup days.
Administrators will present a plan to the School Board at its March 1 meeting, said Bob Burch, director of operations for Fredericksburg schools.
"We need to know how many days we're out before we start talking about making them up," he said. "We've got to make up some instruction time no matter what."
Burch said he hoped to know by March the total snow days used for the school year, but said you can never know for certain when the threat of snow is over.
In 1971, when Burch was coaching track at James Monroe High School, he said his team got snowed out of a meet in April.
AROUND THE REGION
Caroline public school students have missed seven days as of today. Rebecca Broaddus, assistant superintendent for instruction, said the division has scheduled makeup days for Monday and June 18.
King George County Superintendent Candace Brown said her division had taken six snow days so far, but she didn't know how the division would address the lost time.
Westmoreland County students had used nine snow days including today. Kathy Rice, director of instruction, said it's "still under study" how the system will make up the lost time.
Colonial Beach's school division has seven snow days including one today. School Superintendent Donna Power said the School Board will discuss makeup days at its meeting Feb. 17.
Culpeper County students will go to school on Presidents Day as a first step toward making up the seven days of school they have missed for snow as of today.
Orange County students had been out for eight snow days now. Four of those days don't need to be made up; the other three will be made up on Presidents Day, April 8 and April 9, said School Superintendent Robert Grimesey.
--Robin Knepper, Donnie Johnston and Frank Delano contributed to this report.
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
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