On Jan. 24, Rockbridge County faced one of the largest ice storms it has seen in years, closing the district for the entirety of the week. Schools were closed Jan. 26-29 for snow days, and students were issued a virtual learning day on Jan. 30. The large amount of closures left students and families questioning why the week only consisted of one virtual day.
According to RCPS Superintendent Dr. Philip Thompson, while calling virtual learning may seem like a simple solution, there are many more factors to take into consideration.
When deciding between a snow day, virtual day, or two-hour delay, safety is always the top priority. Thompson shared that the division communicates with a variety of sources before making a decision, including the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the National Weather Service, and dispatchers at the Sheriff’s Office. Bus drivers and staff from different parts of the county are also often contacted in order to provide the most reliable information.
“Oftentimes it comes down to just poor timing,” Thompson said. “A lot of times the poorest weather seems to come through at 5:00 in the morning when buses and students are out on the road. By 9:00 or 10:00 things seem to clear up, but we can’t rely upon that.”
Although virtual learning may appear to be a simple solution, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has recently made this more complex. Thompson explained that in order for the school division to use a virtual day, it must provide students with meal access.
“If we’re going to do a virtual day, we have to be able to feed kids,” Thompson said. “That makes it difficult.”
During the week of the ice storm, the division was unable to provide meals to its students. Unsafe road conditions prevented delivery trucks from reaching schools until Thursday of that week. That Thursday, Rockbridge County Public Schools (RCPS) was able to coordinate resources, issuing Friday, Jan. 30, a virtual day.
These closures impact the school calendar. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, public schools must have a minimum of 180 instructional days or 990 instructional hours each school year. This year, the RCPS school year calendar consisted of ten “bank days.” “Bank days” are days that the district sets aside in advance in case they have to cancel school due to weather or emergencies. The division has already used nine of the ten, meaning there is only one left.
In order to make up for lost instructional time, the division has adjusted the calendar. The teacher workday that was originally on Feb. 13 is now a regular school day, and an early dismissal the following week has been removed. Thompson said that the school division is now “counting hours” in order to meet state requirements.
As of now, RCPS has two make-up days remaining. The current calendar has another teacher work day on March 13 that could potentially be used if needed. Thompson shared that in the case that more snow were to occur, adding school days to spring break is not completely off the table, but he would prefer alternate solutions.
“In my mind — and this is obviously a school board decision — in my mind, if we have to do something, I would rather extend the school day for 10 or 15 minutes a day to be able to get that time that we need,” Thompson said.
For now, students and families can expect the division to closely monitor the weather forecasts and road conditions before making any future decisions.
As for any confusion surrounding snow days and virtual learning, he said that questions are understandable.
“I think those are all very fair and legitimate questions,” Thompson said.
