Weather-related school closings limit RCSS options

Here’s a scene from Sunday along Dixie Drive in Asheboro. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)

Classes were cancelled all of last week in the Randolph County School System because of weather-related conditions, meaning the system used its five built-in “snow days” for the school year.

The built-in extra days in the school calendar don’t need to be made up, according to information from Amber Ward, the system’s public information officer. After built-in days are exhausted, state statue allows for up to five remote learning days that can be used.

Ward said any days with schools closed this week – and at least Monday and Tuesday fell into that category – will count toward the use of the remote learning days.

RCSS cited inclement weather and hazardous road conditions for closing schools at the beginning of last week and then referred to hazardous road conditions for continuing to keep schools closed for the rest of the week and at the beginning of this week.

The school system provided an announcement pointing out that students should be prepared for any remote learning days this week because on Jan. 23 teachers sent home with students instructional materials in case remote instructional days came into play.

Ward said that RCSS hadn’t used any built-in days off prior to last week. In December, the school system had weather-related shortened days, but not closings so it hadn’t used any of the built-in days. One of those days involved an early dismissal and two other days involved delayed openings.

Schools in RCSS were open for student instruction for 12 days in January, beginning Jan. 5 following the post-holiday break. Students were off Jan. 19 because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday and then the next two days because of teacher workdays (with the exception of Randolph Early College holding classes Jan. 20 and 21).