WASHINGTON — By this weekend, most area students will be enjoying summer vacation. Fairfax County school children, however, are expected in class through next Wednesday to make up missed snow days.
Area school systems cancelled an unprecedented number of school days over winter because of extreme weather. Creative solutions to make up those days have included shortening recess, cancelling early release days, and replacing teacher planning days with class time.
Fairfax County is among school systems opting to add to the end of the school year originally scheduled to conclude June 20.
“It’s making for a very, very long school year,” says a parent who is choosing to pull her son out of school on the original release date. She says she paid for a summer camp program before the schedule change was announced and cites examples of other families also intending to stick with original plans.
“We have a large number of families that have already informed the school that they will not be attending next week due to family reunions, beach vacations, camps, etc.,” says an email sent to parents of students at Vienna Elementary School.
The email goes on to say, “All absences next week will be excused provided that the attendance line has been informed in advance.”
While Fairfax County efforts a smooth transition past make up snow days and into summer, some other systems are already warning parents of requirements necessary to begin the 2014-15 school year.
Maryland schools have new immunization requirements for students entering seventh grade. They’ll need to have documentation of one tetanus, diphtheria, and attenuated pertussis (Tdap) vaccination and one meningococcal vaccination (MCV4) before summer break is over.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
