February 16 will be a holiday, by unanimous vote of the School Board last night. Here is communication that was sent out in email today:
High School Testing Schedule, Inservice/Workday Modified for January
The School Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to add the Presidents’ Day holiday back on this year’s school calendar meaning students and staff will be off on Monday, February 16, 2009.
With this latest change, and the School Board previously making Tuesday, January 20, 2009, Inauguration Day, a school holiday, other adjustments also had to be made.
The high school testing schedule has been modified to help students achieve maximum success on semester-ending exams. Based on the consensus of high school principals, along with input from the Superintendent’s Staff, Wednesday, January 21, will be a review day instead of the first day of exams. Since this will push the end-of-semester exam cycle into the next week, the teacher inservice/workday (a student holiday) will now be on Tuesday, January 27, instead of Monday, January 26. The new date for the elementary school half-day/parent-teacher conferences will be Monday, February 2.For elementary schools, the School Age Care (SAC) program will be closed during school holidays (January 19, January 20, and February 16), but open on teacher workdays and half days (January 27 and February 2).
Additional School News:
Prince William School Board Postpones Construction Contract for 11th High School
At its meeting last night, the Prince William County School Board deferred a vote on awarding a $70.7 million construction contract for the School Division’s 11th high school until its January 7 meeting. Due to current market conditions and other factors, the lowest bid came in $11.3 million under the projected costs. The School Division’s approved Capital Improvements Plan allowed for $95.4 million for the overall project, with $82 million of this amount projected for the construction award.
Some School Board members requested more time to review various financial options as next year’s budget is being developed and new fiscal projections were just released by the Governor’s office. The 11th high school would be paid for with bonds over the next 20 years with the impact on next year’s budget being $1.4 million.
The new high school would be built near the intersection of Kettle Run and Vint Hill Roads in the Linton Hall area. The building would provide much needed classroom relief to high schools in the western area of the county, several of which have student enrollments over their current building capacity. Construction could begin almost immediately once the contract is awarded, with the building taking 26 months to complete. The facility is scheduled to open to students for the 2011–12 school year.
