The piles of snow and ice that have kept New River Valley students out of school for multiple days this year could mean they'll be in class later in the spring. But for now, they're likely still to be released by the second week of June.

School systems build a certain number of snow days into their academic calendars. But sometimes that's not enough, and administrators must push back the planned last day of school. The state requires students to attend 180 days, or have 990 hours of instruction.

Tuesday marked the fifth school day that students in Montgomery County have missed because of weather, according to interim Superintendent Walt Shannon. That will move the county's last day of school from June 2 to June 9.

But Shannon said he's bracing for even more weather-related closures, with the promise of another storm this weekend. If that happens, administrators will have to examine how many instructional hours they have banked.

The state requires to schools to be in session for 5 ¹₂ hours each day. Montgomery allots for an extra half-hour daily. Any time beyond the state requirement is considered "banked time."

The General Assembly allows banked time to be used to make up time lost because of inclement weather and other emergencies.

Superintendents have the final say when schools are closed or delayed. They also rely heavily on administrative teams that travel roads early in the morning to determine how safe transportation will be. They cannot have school if one part of the school division has clear roads and others do not.

"Safety is the primary factor, not only the streets and roads, but once they get into the school grounds," said Radford Superintendent Chuck Bishop.

Radford students have missed four instructional days this academic year because of snow, ice and bitter cold. They've also seen up to three days with delays. For now, their last day of school remains as June 11, Bishop said.

That school system can miss up to nine days without the need to make up snow days, he said.

Giles County builds days during the year into its calendar. Already this year, students attended on Jan. 18 -- the Martin Luther King holiday -- because of weather closings earlier in January. That system plans to be in session until June 10, according to its Web site.

BUDGET

Montgomery board reschedules meeting

The Montgomery County School Board meeting and public hearing scheduled for Tuesday night was postponed because of inclement weather. It has been rescheduled for Thursday.

The school board will meet at 6 p.m. in closed session to discuss student discipline. A public hearing on its proposed $90.86 million 2010-11 operating budget will start at 7 p.m. with the board's regular meeting at 7:30 p.m.

SPRING BREAK

Calendar responses favor shorter holiday

A survey about Montgomery County's 2011 academic calendar netted 2,179 responses. Of those, 1,096 said they would prefer a shortened spring break -- a holiday that could include early release the Wednesday before Easter and no school that Thursday, Friday and the following Monday.

That's opposed to 720 who said they'd prefer the longer break that includes no school for five days before the holiday and the following Monday.

The school system's calendar committee is in the process of creating its calendar and wanted feedback into which spring break option works better.

The school board chose to extend the break to five days, but some teachers and parents voiced concerns because that break leaves little time to prepare right before the Standards of Learning exams.

Most of the survey responses -- 1,410 -- came from people who identified themselves as parents of elementary-age children.

SCHOLARSHIP

Retired reachers to award scholarship

The Montgomery County Retired Teachers Association is accepting scholarship applications from graduating Montgomery County seniors who hopes to have a career as a teacher.

The association has two, one-time $1,000 awards available. Interested students should contact their school guidance counselors to obtain an application.

Deadline for the award is April 15.