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Fairfax County won’t need to extend school year

WASHINGTON 鈥 Fairfax County Public Schools may have had a week off in the wake of last weekend鈥檚 blizzard, but the school system is still on track to end the school year as originally scheduled.

That鈥檚 the word from Jeff Platenburg, the school system鈥檚 assistant superintendent for facilities and transportation.

Not only will schools be ready to open on Monday, he told 海角精品黑料 on Friday morning; all school buildings will be ready to host regularly scheduled school and community events on Saturday and Sunday.

Platenburg says his team has been doing 鈥渁 phenomenal job,鈥 including 12- to 15-hour shifts, clearing pathways and bus stops after a blizzard that was everything it was cracked up to be.

鈥淢inimal power outages really helped us a lot,鈥 Platenburg says.

While some hoped for a faster clearing of pathways and bus stops, Platenburg says, 鈥渨e were very fortunate, considering the magnitude鈥 of the storm.

He said he鈥檚 also seen students and families clearing their bus stops themselves.

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen some phenomenal community work out there. 鈥 It鈥檚 been really nice to see.鈥

The predicted warm weather should help clear the streets and sidewalks as well, and Platenburg says that won鈥檛 come a moment too soon: About 43,000 students walk to schools, and 108,000 walk to bus stops. Also, the system has 1,600 buses, and they need a lot of room to turn.

鈥淲e really need a lot of that to be finished up and touched up,鈥 Platenburg said.

Still, so far the school year will end as scheduled June 23, thanks to a bit more time built into the schedule. In previous years, the district only allowed for about three days of inclement weather, but realized that more flexibility would be required.

鈥淪hift happens,鈥 Platenburg said.

Rick Massimo

Rick Massimo came to 海角精品黑料, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child.聽He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."

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