Extra Week of Summer for Stafford High School Students

Stafford High administrators have pushed back the start of classes by a week over continued delays in completing the new facility.

Students across Stafford County will return to school on Aug. 8, but students at Stafford High School will get an extra week of summer break. The first day of school at the new high school campus will be Sept. 14.

Hess, the general contractor, has suffered a series of delays in getting the new high school completed and ready for the district to begin filling the school with office and classroom materials. Hess is being fined $5,000 per day as the delays mount.

A open house for students has already been rescheduled, but school administrators announced Friday evening that the school was not ready.

“In order to provide a positive educational experience for our students in a finished building, we have determined to delay the start of school for Stafford High School students until Monday, September 14, 2015,” according to a letter at Stafford High online.

The school system is weighing options for replacing the lost instruction time, including extra days in the second semester, requesting a waiver from the Commonwealth and providing on-line opportunities for classroom instruction.

Teachers, who were expected already be in their classrooms, will work from home next week until they can access the building.

The Freshman Orientation and Open House will now be held on Sept. 10, two days after the rest of the district has already started classes. The freshman orientation will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Open House for Seniors and Juniors will be from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and for Sophomores and Freshmen from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

“Both of these events on September 10 will be dependent upon access to the spaces within the school,” according to the school.