Despite the snowy winter, most school systems in the Roanoke Valley say they still have a comfy cushion of makeup days built into their calendars.

That is, if the current pattern of significant snowfall every weekend doesn't continue too long.

The exception is Franklin County where school has been closed eight days already and only five were built into the calendar.

"At the school board meeting Monday, that will be a topic of discussion," said Janet Stockton, spokeswoman for the school division.

There is a teacher work day in March that could be used as a makeup day, she said, "and, of course, what people don't want to hear is 'spring break' or 'Memorial Day.' "

Tapping into both of those are possibilities.

Schools must complete 180 days or 990 hours of instruction to qualify for 100 percent of their state funding, so every system keeps track of that.

Here's a look at other divisions:

• Roanoke has 15 days more than that state-required minimum built into its calendar, said schools spokeswoman Tiffany Woods. So far this year, the city has missed five days and five hours, "so we have about seven days left," she said.

• Roanoke County schools have had only three "official snow-closing days," counting Wednesday, said spokesman Chuck Lionberger.

The division had eight days built in this year, "so we still have five in the hopper."

• In Bedford County, schools spokesman Ryan Edwards said students have missed "in excess of four days, including early dismissals."

Edwards said he didn't have exact figures, but "we have days banked into the calendar to cover those, and we've not reached the threshold yet" for figuring out how to make up extra days.

• Craig County has missed seven days, said Superintendent Ron Gordon, but it had 11 built in, so there are "four to go." If those get eaten up, the division will start taking away spring break days in April, beginning with the last day and working forward.

• In Salem, 13 days are designated as potential makeup days, but because the school division doesn't begin classes until after Labor Day, none are automatically built into the calendar, said Superintendent Alan Seibert. The city's schools have closed three days so far, and two of those have already been made up, Seibert said.

• Botetourt County school officials did not return phone calls Wednesday, but the county's online calendar shows four more snow days built in one of which is Friday, when more snow is forecast for the region.

Some school divisions, including Franklin County, may consider Saturday makeup days if snow days pile up too high, but most want to avoid it. "Saturday is a problem for a lot of high school students, as well as some teachers, who have part-time jobs," said Stockton. "Attendance is not the best, and it's not an option we like to use."

The one date that is sacrosanct almost everywhere is graduation day.

"Interestingly enough, graduation is the date around which you set the entire calendar," Lionberger said. Facilities have to be lined up, invitations printed and other plans made that are extremely difficult to change, he said.

In Salem, for instance, commencement will be held on June 15, although the next two days could be makeup days for grades K-11 if needed, Seibert said.