Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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March 9, 2010

Board extends school day

Tazewell County students to receive 35 additional minutes daily in classroom

By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

TAZEWELL, Va. — Starting March 15, Tazewell County Schools will stay open for an extra 35 minutes to help make up for instructional time lost to this winter’s inclement weather.

As of Monday, Tazewell County’s schools had been closed 21 days due to snow,  Christine Kinser, assistant superintendent for administration and instruction told the Tazewell County Board of Education. Virginia law requires students to have 990 clock hours of instruction each year, but Tazewell County had had only 594 hours.

“Well, it’s been a long winter and it’s not over yet,” Kinser said Monday evening. If all the lost days were added to the end of the school year, school would continue until June 25.

Kinser at first recommended adding an hour every day, Monday through Thursday, and leaving at the regular time on Friday. After some discussion, the board decided to add 35 minutes to each day starting March 15.

Board member Randy Conn asked Kinser if teachers had provided input about extending the length of school days.

Kinser replied that teachers had asked that the school year not be extended until the end of June. Besides vacations, teachers often spend parts of their summer taking continuing education classes.

Another member of the board, Michael L. Dennis, said parents had also asked him not to extend the school year into the summer; meanwhile, students had to be prepared for required testing.

Board member Steve Davis said during the discussion that having extended days could be difficult for some students, especially those in kindergarten through second grade. A second concern was that having some days extended while others were on the regular schedule could cause some confusion.

The board voted unanimously to extend the school day by 35 minutes starting March 15. The last day of school will be June 10, and graduation day for the high schools will be June 11.

“If we don’t miss any further days in March, we will be able to stop this in April,” Kinser said.

In other business, the board voted unanimously to start the next school year on August 19 this year.

The projected last day of school would be May 23, 2011.

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