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Franklin County starts Wednesday Schools will open with the new Windy Gap Elementary School under construction and expected to open in a year. Brenda Hopkins, principal of Callaway Elementary School, has already been named principal of the new school.

Montgomery County starts Wednesday Parents can now prepay their child's meals through an online service. Cafe Prepay allows users to track account balances, pay with a credit card and preload a specific amount of money into an account.

Roanoke County starts Aug. 25 Because of the sudden increase in fuel and food prices, Roanoke County Public Schools have raised school lunch prices. Full-priced lunches in the county school system will go from $1.75 to $2.

Bedford County starts Aug. 25 Bedford County schools are launching the region's first virtual school. It will have its own staff and 30 to 50 students in grades K-6. The school is for students who can't go to a brick-and-mortar school. Teachers will monitor students through conference calls and online.

Roanoke starts Sept. 2 The school system is changing its 40-year-old start times. On the first day of school elementary students will start at 7:45 a.m. and end at 2:25 p.m. Middle and high schools will start at 8:45 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m.

Salem starts Sept. 2 A new dress code means that dresses and shorts can be no shorter than 5 inches above the kneecap. Tank tops, tube tops, sheer tops, tops that expose the midriff or with shoulder straps less than 3 inches wide are forbidden, as are hats and sunglasses.