Fairfax County School Board to Consider Starting School Before Labor Day

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- The Fairfax County School Board will consider starting school before Labor Day for the 2017-18 school year, now that Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) qualifies for a waiver from the post-Labor Day requirement, the school system recently announced.

The 2016-17 school year calendar, adopted in December, remains in effect and designates Tuesday, Sept. 6, as the first day of school.

According to the Code of Virginia (22.1-79.1), the Board of Education may waive the state requirement to begin schools after Labor Day if a district is closed an average of 8 days per year during five of the past 10 years due to weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures or other emergencies.

FCPS qualifies for the waiver because, during five of the past 10 years, the district has averaged 8.4 days missed due to weather conditions and other events, the school system points out. Based upon this current average of missed days, the waiver option will continue at least through the 2019-20 school year.

The School Board will discuss the issue at a future work session and, prior to taking a vote, will gather feedback from parents, teachers and community members.

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