Schools

Snow Day Sacrifice: Big Changes to School Calendar in Prince William County

Superintendent's plan: "Probably won't be popular."

Hopefully, your children got to play in the snow this season. Under a new schedule approved by the Prince William County School Board on Wednesday, they won't be doing much playing at school.

Yes, students are losing days off. But elementary students will also be limited to just enough recess time to get sunlight on their faces before they're back in the classroom.

Snow days this year have destroyed the Prince William County Schools calendar, and state mandates on instruction time led the superintendent to make drastic changes to the schedule.

That includes limiting recess to 10 minutes a day at elementary schools, starting Feb. 24.

The board also approved these changes:

  • March 31 will be a school day — it had been scheduled for a teacher workday.
  • June 17 will be a full day of school and June 18 will be an added half-day for elementary students.
What do you think of the changes? Tell us in the comments!

A statement from PWCS noted that the decision, "probably won't be popular," but suggests this plan would, "have the least undesirable impact on students, staff and families."

Teachers will allowed to incorporate physical activities like stretches and other exercises into the day's curriculum, according to Superintendent Steven Walts.

"If they wanted to do 20 minutes of health and wellness, they could do so," Walts said during the board meeting.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Manassas Park