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Question: Does Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) have control over when it starts the school year?
Answer: No.
In 1986, the Virginia General Assembly passedSection 22.1-79.1 of the Code of Virginia, known as the “Kings Dominion Law.” The intent of this law was to expand the revenue generated by the tourism during Labor Day weekend. This law states that Virginia school divisions cannot open before Labor Day without obtaining a waiver.
To obtain such a waiver, a school division must meet the following formula: During the past 10 years, the school division’s five highest snow day totals must equal 40 days. LCPS lost a 12-day year from the last decade this year, thus losing its waiver.
For more than a decade, rescinding this law has been part of the Loudoun County School Board's Legislative Agenda. Last year, a bill rescinding the Kings Dominion Law reached the floor of the General Assembly for the first time, but was defeated.
Question: Does LCPS have snow days?
Answer: No.
Virginia requires school divisions to schedule 990 hours of instruction during the school year. LCPS schedules enough extra hours so that it is not required to make up missed days. LCPS schedules 1,080 instructional hours over 180 days. That gives LCPS the equivalent of 15 extra instructional days, enough to cover our most severe winters and enough to enable LCPS to have a "fixed" calendar.
Question: What Is a Fixed Calendar?
Answer: The term “fixed calendar” means that all vacations, end dates and holidays are taken as scheduled. When the School Board sets the calendar for the following school year in October that calendar is set in stone. All vacation days and graduation dates, which are set a year in advance, will not be altered by excess inclement weather.
Previous to the “fixed calendar” days missed had to be made up by canceling scheduled holidays or extending the school year. Saturdays also were scheduled to make up time missed and graduation dates could be changed late in the school year.
The first “fixed” calendar was implemented by the Loudoun County School Board for the 1990-91 school year.
Question: Can LCPS operate with less than 180 instructional days?
Answer: No.
LCPS has to meet the accreditation standards set by Virginia and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. These standards include scheduling sufficient instructional time (140 hours per unit of credit). Since LCPS schedules on an eight-period block, it just meets the required instructional time hours with a 180-day calendar. Less than a 180-day instructional year would not meet accreditation requirements.
In the recent past, LCPS has scheduled 185 instructional days.
Question: Can the proposed Spring Break for the 2013-2014 school calendar be moved?
Answer: Yes.
The only consequence would be that LCPS would not be in sync with neighboring school systems. Loudoun’s Spring Break originally started on the first Monday following April 5 every year. This caused problems for employees who worked in Loudoun, but lived in neighboring jurisdictions. The School Board standardized Spring Break to coordinate with the other systems in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., area about 12 years ago.
Following is the proposed calendar:
Staff Proposed 2013-14 School Calendar
September 3: First Day of School for Students
October 14: Holiday (Columbus Day)
November 4-5: Student Holidays (Planning/Records/Conference Days)
November 27-29: Holiday (Thanksgiving)
December 23-January 1: Winter Break (Classes Resume January 2)
January 20: Holiday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
January 27: Moveable Student Holiday(Planning/Records/Conference Day)
February 17: Holiday (Presidents’ Day)
March 31: Student Holiday (Planning/Records/Conference Day)
April 14-18: Holiday (Spring Break)
May 26: Holiday (Memorial Day)
June 13: Last Day of School for Students/End of Grading Period
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