"Kings Dominion Law"

I like it too. We were camping Fri-Mon and it was pretty nice to have the place empty out by noon yesterday and to enjoy the place to ourselves last night.

 

This was posted on the LCPS website last December 15:

"The School Board let the state legislators know that it wanted a repeal of the so-called “Kings Dominion Law” that forces Virginia schools to start after Labor Day unless they have a weather waiver. (Loudoun County has lost its waiver.) With Labor Day occurring the latest it can in 2009, LCPS has been forced to push back its calendar. This lowers the amount of instructional time before Standards of Learning (SOL) and Advanced Placement (AP) tests have to be taken."

To start before Labor Day, schools have to show that they were closed an average of 8 days per year in any 5 of the past 10 years, due to weather, energy shortages or other emergency situations. That's the situation we had prior to 2005. In 2004, schools opened on Aug. 31.

I, too, like starting after Labor Day - mainly because vacation destinations are less crowded the last 2 weeks of August.

 

See I told you it was so called the KD LAW! I got that from my discussion with Wade Byer of LCPS when we spoke about the lack of Foreign language Immersion in HS Teachers can do it, but the block schedule will not work with it.

But having had a current student and a graduate of LCPS HS, I can attest to the waste of time June is after SOL and pre- exams. The majority of teachers pass out a review for the upcoming exams they can read, and then they basically watch Movies or chat...and do no more work.

 

Bird, as an employee at one of the high schools, I can tell you that the reason SOL's are given 3 weeks before the end of school, is to allow time for students that missed the tests to make them up, and the students who missed passing by just a few points have the opportunity to have remediation, and retake the test. I'm not saying I agree with it, but that is the reason. Our state is so SOL driven, that by the time the test is over, both students and teachers are worn out, which is why you have a lot of wasted time and movies the last few weeks of school. Not saying it's right, it's just the reality of it.