Craig schools start losing spring break days to snow
CRAIG COUNTY – Snow, snow and more snow has caused Craig County Schools to be closed nine of the system’s 11 built-in snow days – so far.
Graduation is still set for June 12, the superintendent promises, and state-mandated Standards of Learning writing tests remain scheduled to start March 2. But if Craig County students have to miss more than the remaining two days left that are built into this year’s 2009-1010 calendar, their Spring Break will get shorter, School Superintendent Ron Gordon said Monday.
With more than a foot of snow on the ground already, this lone oak tree across Rt. 311 from Mountain View Church stands proudly with its limbs perfectly lined with fresh snow on Feb. 7. Photo by Sue Sublett Bostic
“We missed the ninth day as of Monday,” he said. “After we miss 11 days we have to start making up days, and will use Easter break starting with that Friday, April 9, and moving backwards if we have to. We also have Memorial Day which could be used for a makeup day if we need it.”
Right now, Craig County Schools’ Spring Break is scheduled for April 2-9.
This Friday, Feb. 12, that is scheduled as an early release day for students and a half-day teacher workday, will remain half day, Gordon said. If necessary, future half-days could become whole days for students, he added.
When asked if Saturday school might be an option, he said, “It is not totally out, if we need to have more days.”
Although more-than 45 inches of snow has fallen so far since the first storm in mid-December for the Roanoke Valley and even more in parts of Craig County, this isn’t the worst winter Gordon can recall.
“I remember as a kid in high school, in 1960, we missed a solid month of school. It snowed every Wednesday starting in February and going through March,” said Gordon, who lived in North Carolina then. “A late winter storm that caused winter sports to be delayed for about a month.”
Craig students only went to school one day out of five last week, on Thursday, Feb. 4. They missed three more days this week – Monday and Tuesday – after last weekend’s storm dumped an additional foot or so of snow on top of the 8 inches already on the ground from the previous weekend.
Gordon said he hoped students would be able to go to school on Tuesday this week, after press time, “but it depends on what the weather does overnight. The last forecast I saw was for 2-5 inches tonight.”
Even though students, staff and teachers were at home for the past few days, Gordon was in his office and on Sunday, rode the roads to check icy conditions on Sunday, he said.
“I will ride the roads again this afternoon to check the roads that were visibly bad Sunday,” he said.
Editor’s note: Students missed a second and third day this week after press time, and could miss additional days following a snow and sleet storm that coated roads with another 2-plus inches Tuesday night.
