Loudoun schools closed all week

Schools are closed all week. Does this cause issues for your family? Want to weigh in on this decision?

I'm writing an article about the snow and schools for the Loudoun Times-Mirror. Anyone wanting to comment on the situation can e-mail ecoe@timespapers.com. Thank you!

 

Here is what I received back from Wayde at LCPS via an email I sent to him:

Loudoun County doesn't have snow days.
Here is the reason why:
The Commonwealth of Virginia requires that schools provide a minimum 990 hours of instructional time each school year with each school day being at least 5.5 hours in length. School divisions are required to have a plan for making up a total of 15 days missed because of bad weather or other emergencies. For 2009-2010, Loudoun County Public Schools will operate on a 180-day instructional calendar. Because the length of the instructional day in LCPS exceeds the 5.5 hour minimum, the 15 required are covered in the established school calendar. Loudoun County has had this policy governing the calendar since 1990.
The fixed calendar means that days missed for inclement weather will not cause truncated vacations, Saturday classes, lengthened school days, or changes in graduation dates. Families are able to set their calendars a full year ahead around the fixed dates. - Wayde B. Byard, public information officer, Loudoun County Public Schools