News

Actions

Students in Petersburg will soon spend more time in class

Posted at 6:49 PM, Dec 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-15 18:49:41-05

PETERSBURG, Va. -- Petersburg City School students will have a longer day starting next semester.  They will start five minutes earlier and end five minutes later, for a grand total of ten minutes more each day.

The reason behind the added minutes is due to a problem discovered in November, which indicated that high school students would be short four hours of instructional time, according to state standards.

Administrators quickly came up with options to make up the time.

"We took that information to a group of about 40 people, parents, staff members and teachers and they looked at all the options and they brainstormed what would be the best step forward," said Petersburg School Spokesperson Leigh Ann McKelway.

The consensus was to add five minutes at the beginning and five minutes at the end of the school day, starting January 2.

Parents tell CBS 6 they are concerned about the mistake but glad it was discovered now and not at the end of the school year.

The school system also needed to buffer some time, if days are missed due to inclement weather.

If a day is missed due to inclement weather, Presidents Day will become a regular school day.

School days missed after that will have cancel out early release days.