With the temperatures dropping and the weather becoming more winter-like, we want to make sure you know how to find out about school schedule changes, should bad weather disrupt our school schedule. As always, when weather causes us to make decisions that affect our school schedule, our top priority is the safety of our students, staff, and other members of our community. Every weather event is unique, and we consider information from several sources to help us decide if we should open schools on time, open on a delay, close schools, or dismiss early.
The most complete resource for information is our Closings, Delays & Early Dismissals web page, which explains our inclement weather decision-making process, our scheduling options, our communication timelines, all of the ways you can find out about schedule changes, and more.
Fastest Ways for Employees to Find Out About Schedule Changes
- Receive an alert via phone, email and text through our Electronic School Notification System. As an employee, your ACPS email address is automatically enrolled in our notification system, but you can also add a personal email address and up to two phone numbers for receiving voice and text messages. Click here to enroll, review or update your contact information.
- Call the School Schedule Hotline at 434-296-5886 to listen to a prerecorded message about school operations for the day. The recording is updated by 5:30 a.m.
The division also communicates school schedule changes on the ACPS website; our social media accounts: Facebook and X (formerly Twitter); and several local radio and television stations and local media websites.
Remote Learning
Schools are required to be in session for 180 days or 990 clock hours each school year. Our current school year calendar includes 1,056 hours of instructional time, which exceeds the minimum requirement by an equivalent of 10 school days. ACPS tracks our use of these “banked” hours and days when we delay or close schools. Should weather conditions cause us to miss five school days (or 30 hours of instructional time), the superintendent will decide if we will have remote learning days. If that occurs, remote learning days may be used during multi-day closures and could start on the second day or later of each multi-day weather event. Remote instruction may be synchronous (live, teacher-led, and online) or asynchronous (independent). In either case, remote learning will focus on material that already has been taught to students.
All staff are expected to work on remote learning days. Your principal or department head will share more specifics with you about work expectations during these days.
Guidance for 12-Month Employees
School Board Policy GCQC, Coverage of Schools Due to Weather and/or Emergency, gives the superintendent or designee the ability to determine if bad weather warrants a schedule change for 12-month employees. The policy also addresses liberal leave (see GCQC-AP, Section II).
For each schedule change, the superintendent will issue guidance to 12-month employees regarding expectations for reporting to work. This guidance will be included in the email sent through our Electronic School Notification System, in a pop-up alert featured on the ACPS website, and in the recorded message on the School Schedule Hotline (434-296-5886).
A Note About Essential Personnel: Essential personnel, such as school-based Building Services employees and custodians, are expected to work during building delays and closures, regardless of weather. Supervisors will ensure that employees are aware of the appropriate reporting schedules for different situations.
Special Thanks
We want to take a moment to especially thank our Transportation Services Road Assessment Team for waking up early and braving potentially hazardous road conditions to help the school division make informed and safe choices for our students and staff. We’d also like to express our gratitude for the essential personnel who report to work regardless of weather conditions in order to keep our buildings operating efficiently.