2 Northern Virginia school systems cancel classes for April vote on redistricting
A couple public school systems in Northern Virginia plan to cancel classes April 21 to make way for a wave of voters casting ballots on a congressional redistricting amendment.
So far, Fairfax County Public Schools and Stafford County Public Schools have announced they will call off classes while many of their schools act as polling places during a statewide referendum.
The rest of the major school systems in Northern Virginia haven’t announced their plans yet, including those in Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington and Alexandria.
When contacted by WTOP, a couple school systems said they were still working through whether classes would be held.
A spokesperson for Prince William County Public Schools told WTOP the school board plans to consider a recommendation to switch April 21 to a staff workday, where students would be off.
The school board is expected to take a look at the proposed calendar change during its meeting next week on March 18.
This article will be updated as additional school systems announce their plans for election day.
November’s election is a statewide holiday, so all public schools will close. But it’s up to the localities to decide whether to hold classes on the special election day in April.
The referendum poses a single question to voters about whether Democrats should be allowed to move forward with mid-decade redistricting. The plan would redraw the state’s congressional map in favor of their party, possibly flipping up to four seats in the U.S. House.
More than 160 schools in Fairfax County will act as polling places April 21.
“Given the anticipated volume of voters, this would significantly impact normal school operations and limit our ability to provide a secure learning environment for students and staff,” Superintendent Michelle Reid wrote in a letter to families Wednesday.
Reid said the decision to close schools helps maintain safety and security while making sure facilities are ready for voters.
Even counting the many snow days this winter, Reid said the school system will still exceed the number of instructional hours required by the state’s department of education.
Stafford County Public Schools announced earlier this month it would push back a staff work day to April 21, when 22 of its schools will host voters.
Instead of giving students the day off planned for Friday, March 13, the staff work day was rescheduled to April 21.
The school system said students would need to come to class Friday under the revised schedule.
“We would have preferred to provide notice of this change sooner; however, we learned today that the election would move forward,” the school system wrote in a social media post March 3.
There had been questions about whether the referendum would be allowed to move ahead while legal challenges to the vote are reviewed in court. Virginia’s Supreme Court cleared things up March 4 and ruled the referendum can be held April 21.