NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- School districts across Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina saw several days of closures following January winter storms, with some schools being closed for more than a week!
You may wonder what this means for makeup days. With the snow melting, school districts are beginning to outline their plans.
CHESAPEAKE
As a result of the loss of instructional time due to inclement weather, the length of our high school day will be extended by five minutes for each day of the second semester. The time will be spread over all four blocks. This will begin on Monday, February 5, 2018. Because high school courses are required to have 140 clock hours of “seat time” in order to earn a credit for each course, the additional minutes for high school students had to be added so that we would be sure to have one full day of banked time for second semester. The banked days originally included in the calendar for second semester were all used as make up time for the snow in January. At the end of the 2017-2018 school year, these five minutes will be removed from the instructional day.
New High School Hours:
- Deep Creek High School 8:40 A.M. – 3:43P.M.
- Grassfield High School 8:40 A.M. – 3:43P.M.
- Great Bridge High School 8:40 A.M. – 3:43P.M.
- Hickory High School 8:40 A.M. – 3:48P.M.
- Indian River High School 8:40 A.M. – 3:48P.M.
- Oscar Smith High School 8:40 A.M. – 3:48P.M.
- Western Branch High School 8:40 A.M. – 3:43P.M.
DARE COUNTY, NC
Interim reports, end of quarter dates and report card days have all shifted, and end of course and end of grade test dates will push out by 2 days.
With the following shifts, we will gain back 3 full instructional days:
- May 25 is now a full instructional day.
- June 6, June 7 and June 8 are now full instructional days. June 8 will be the last day of school. This WILL NOT affect graduation ceremonies.
CITY OF FRANKLIN
The school board has made adjustments in the current school calendar to allow for additional instructional time in the 1st semester before transitioning over to 2nd semester:
- Change January 16th from a half-day to a full day
- Change January 25th from a half-day to a full day
- Change January 26th from a half-day to a full day
- Change January 29th from a teacher workday to a full student day
- Change January 30th from a half-day to a full student day for JPK and SPM. It will remain a half-day for FHS for Senior Research Presentations
- Change January 31st from a full student day to a half-day for students
- Change February 1st from a full student day to a half-day for students
- February 2nd will be the first day of the 2nd semester.
HAMPTON
- High school exams were originally scheduled for January 22-25. High school exams will now be administered January 24-29.
- January 25 was originally scheduled to be an early release for elementary and middle schools. January 25 will now become a full student day for elementary and middle schools. High schools will operate on the exam schedule.
- January 26 was originally scheduled to be an unencumbered teacher workday. January 26 will now become a full student day for elementary and middle schools. High schools will operate on the exam schedule.
- January 29 was originally scheduled to be a building level professional development day. January 29 will now become a full student day for elementary and middle schools. High schools will operate on the exam schedule.
- The second semester will begin on January 30 for all students.
- February 16 was originally scheduled to be an early close day for students and staff. February 16 will now be a full school day for students and staff.
- February 19 (Presidents’ Day) was originally scheduled to be a holiday for students and staff. February 19 will now be a full school day for students and staff.
Please note that the HCS 2017-2018 adopted calendar includes one “banked day” for inclement weather, which we are using. The adjustment to our schedule addresses the additional lost instructional time and satisfies state requirements regarding student clock hours at all levels - elementary, middle, and high.
Hampton Public Schools said their goal is to safeguard instructional time while also, as much as possible, protect spring break.
NEWPORT NEWS
Michelle Price with Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) said the division included one inclement weather day on the calendar. Newport News Public Schools has designated Monday, January 29, a regular school day for all students. The date was originally a Professional Development Day for staff on the 2017-2018 school year calendar.
Friday, January 26, will remain a teacher workday.
NORFOLK
Norfolk Public Schools has determined that Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 19 will be added to the previously established make-up schedule. This will serve to make up for missed time on January 17, due to inclement weather. The January 18 snow day will be waived as the district will use time already built in to the existing Academic Calendar. The official make-up schedule is as follows:
- Monday, January 29 (Odd Day)
- Monday, February 19 (Even Day)
- Friday, March 2 (Even Day)
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, Virginia
Northampton County Schools have made the following changes: the teacher workday scheduled for January 30 and Presidents' Day on February 19 are now normal school days. The two inclement weather days built into the calendar will be used to compensate for missed time.
The end of the first semester will now be February 2. On February 2, there will be a half day teacher's work day, therefore all students will be dismissed at 12:00 p.m.
PORTSMOUTH
Portsmouth Public Schools has two makeup days built into the school-year calendar. This means students need to make up only three of five days that were missed.
This is how those three days will be made up:
- Three early release days will now transition to full days of instruction. These days are Jan. 26 and 29 and Mar. 30. (The half-days were originally designed to accommodate teacher work days.)
- The school day will be extended by eight minutes from Jan. 22 through May 18.
Chief of Schools Dr. Michael Cromartie made the presentation to the School Board in its Thursday, Jan. 11 meeting, walking through the mathematics of how three days (19.5 hours) of lost instruction would be made up. He pointed out that the plan he was presenting on behalf of administration preserved the Martin Luther King holiday on Jan. 15, a teacher work day now scheduled for Feb. 6, the February 19 Presidents' Day and Spring Break (April 2-6).
The semester will end a little later, Feb.5. The new date for the issuance of school report cards will be Feb. 13.
The new school hours schedule for Jan. 22 through May 18 is now posted on the Portsmouth Public Schools website.
SUFFOLK
Suffolk Public Schools 2017-2018 had one "banked day" for inclement weather. According to the school's website, they will be using that day. The following adjustments have been made to their academic calendar:
- Middle and high school exams were originally scheduled for January 23-26. Middle and high school exams will now be administered January 30- February 2.
- January 24 was originally scheduled to be an early release for middle and high schools. January 24 will now become a full student day for all schools.
- January 25 was originally scheduled to be an early release for middle and high schools. January 25 will now become a full student day for all schools.
- January 26 was originally scheduled to be an early release for all schools. January 26 will now become a full student day for all schools.
- January 29 was originally scheduled to be an early release and half day clerical for all schools. January 29 will now become a full student day for all schools.
- High school exams will begin on January 30 (Odd Day). This will be a full day for all schools.
- January 31 was originally scheduled to be a full day for all students. January 31 will now be an early release exam day (Even Day) for middle and high schools only. Elementary schools will continue to be full day.
- February 1 was originally scheduled to be a full day for all students. February 1 will now be an early release exam day (Odd Day) for middle and high schools only. Elementary schools will continue to be full day.
- February 2 was originally scheduled to be a full day for all students. February 2 will now be an early release for all schools. This will be an exam day (Even Day) for middle and high schools.
- The second semester will begin on February 5 for all students.
- February 16 was originally scheduled to be a Parent Teacher Conference Day. February 16 will now be a full school day for students and staff. Information on scheduling conferences will be shared later.
- February 19 (Presidents’ Day) was originally scheduled to be a holiday for students and staff. February 19 will now be a full school day for students and staff.
- March 6 was originally scheduled to be a Staff Development Day with no students in school. March 6 will now become a full student day for all schools.
VIRGINIA BEACH
Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) will add 15 minutes to the school day from February 12 through May 4 to make up four instructional days lost due to snow in January.
The time will be added to the end of elementary and high schools. Middle schools will start 5 minutes early and end 10 minutes late.
The added time is in addition to January 29 and February 19 being used to to make up two more of the instructional days lost the snowstorm. Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence has also decided to waive a third snow day for students by using time built-in to the 181-day school calendar.
The makeup plan includes:
- Jan. 29 (Staff Day) will make up time lost Jan. 4
- Feb. 19 (Presidents' Day) will make up time lost Jan. 5
- Jan. 8 will not be made up by students; missed time for employees will be made up through a flexible schedule or use of approved leave.
13News Now is waiting to hear back from other school divisions about their makeup day plans.