Charlotte County Public School students, teachers and staff will not need to make up missed days of school because of the snow Winter Storms Jonas and Olympia dumped in the county.

“We have enough bank time to comply with the guidelines in the Code of Virginia, so we will not have to make up these days,” said Nancy Leonard, the county’s school superintendent.

The Code of Virginia Virginia requires that schools provide 180 days of instruction or a total of 990 hours, according to Steven R. Staples, the state’s superintendent of public instruction.

“We build in five days into our calendar and then use the bank time that we have in the length of our school days,” Leonard said.

“We do this so our students have ample instructional time and our school calendar is not disrupted with trying to find makeup days when we have inclement weather.”

A memorandum from Staples stated that if a school does not meet the required instructional time due to missed days, the time must be made up.

“If the school division cannot meet the requirement for 180 days or 990 hours of instruction because of bad weather or other emergencies, days missed must be made up in accordance with the formula outlined in the code, which requires that the school division must make up the first five days, and then make up one day for every two days missed in excess of the first five days missed. …”

The missed days can be made up by adding instructional days to the school calendar or extending the school day.

In Charlotte County’s case, the code reflects that missed days may be excused using time built into the school calendar that exceeds the required 990 hours of instructional time. 

“By doing this, our spring break is safe and families can make plans without worrying about losing spring break,” Leonard said. “We are also able to keep our graduation date and summer school schedules stable.”