Last day of school intact

Spring break and the end of the school year will remain intact for Manassas students after the School Board approved revisions to the calendar Tuesday — a step taken after snow forced closings for 10 days.

All students will make up school May 23, previously scheduled as a holiday following Memorial Day Weekend.

On March 31, previously a teacher workday, students will go to school but will be dismissed early. The remainder of the day will be a workday for teachers, said Ann Yeck, assistant to the superintendent.

Students missed 10 days and had six days of delayed openings due to adverse weather conditions that began in December.

June 18 will remain the last day of the school year.

June 17 and 18 will remain early dismissal days for middle and high school students. However, kindergarten through fifth-grade students will go the full day on both dates, Yeck said.

Kindergartners were not scheduled to go to school June 17 and 18.

Students attend morning or afternoon kindergarten at Baldwin, Jennie Dean and Richard C. Haydon elementary schools. Students at Weems and George C. Round elementary schools began piloting all-day kindergarten Monday.

Elementary principals will incorporate additional instructional time for students in afternoon kindergarten who are not participating in the pilot all-day kindergarten program, according to the revisions made by the board.

The school division will be meeting Virginia Department of Education’s requirement for the school year’s average of 990 hours for first through 12th- grade students. Kindergartners are required to go to school 554 hours, Yeck said.

Manassas’ school days are longer than the state’s requirement of five-and-a-half hours. As a result, there are more hours of instruction in addition to state requirements, and students will have fewer days to make up.

Arthur Bushnell, School Board chairman, was glad spring break and summer vacation were not affected by the changes.

“We’re trying not to disrupt people’s lives while also providing an education to their children,” Bushnell said Tuesday.

Additional revisions will be made to the calendar if snow forces more school delays or closings, board members agreed.