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Mom wants to know why Henrico students won’t be back at school Monday

Posted at 4:31 PM, Jan 24, 2014
and last updated 2014-01-24 16:48:08-05
Click to see latest snow closings and delays

Click to see latest snow closings and delays

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) – Thousands of students who’ve been off all week due to snow and icy roads will get another day off this coming Monday — six days after Tuesday’s snowfall.

Henrico County has a Parent-Teacher Conference Day scheduled Monday, that means no class for students who were last in school Jan. 17 (students were off Monday, Jan. 20 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day).

Chesterfield County decided to cancel Monday’s scheduled day off and bring students back to class. Henrico decided not to do that.

“Can someone please explain to me why Henrico County Schools are still closed on Monday for a teacher workday when they [teachers] have reported to work for the last two days?” CBS 6 Facebook friend Mekka M. asked on the WTVR CBS 6 Facebook page.“As a single parent, I can’t afford to miss anymore time from work or to keep paying for daycare.”

We took Mekka’s question to Henrico County Schools spokesman Andy Jenks.

“We know from experience that many parents make a variety of plans for those student holidays (out of town trips, routine appointments, etc.), and we think it’s best if we allow those plans to remain intact,” Jenks said about the decision to keep Monday a student holiday. “Our instructional days in Henrico are longer than what is required by the state. So, we have a tremendous amount of banked instructional time. We’d have to be off another two weeks before we’d have to seriously consider what’s known as a ‘make-up day.'”

So there you go Mekka. Hope that helps.