Making Up for Lost Time
Photo Credit: Lee Brimer
The roof of Chancellor High School
February 28, 2010 • Andrew Brimer
Filed under Top Stories
The snowfall for the month of February posed many conflicts in terms of snow removal, building integrity and road safety for not just Spotsylvania County but also the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.
In Spotsylvania County three conflicts in particular presented themselves over the past few weeks: first, shortages of snow removal equipment for the school division maintenance department; second, required shoring up of the gym roof at Chancellor High School as a result of the snow load; and third, making up all of the school time lost as a result of the snow. Fortunately for Spotsylvania County, all three issues were resolved in a relatively successful manner.
According to Dr. Scott Worner, Director of Maintenance and Operations for Spotsylvania County Schools, “Too much snow, in too short a time period, [and] not enough equipment” posed a great challenge to for SCS maintenance personnel as they attempted to clear school parking lots and, in some cases, roofs so that students could return.
The multiple snow events in our area forced maintenance personnel to often plow school parking lots and facilities more than once. To make matters even worse, Dr. Worner’s department found that a “study of this recent snow indicates that one square foot of snow, 10 inches deep weighs nearly 18 pounds per square inch.” The extreme weight of the snow and its sheer volume combined to complicate the job of maintenance personnel, and often they were forced to work long hours and on the weekends in order to allow our schools to reopen.
Considering the extreme weight of the snow, Spotsylvania County Schools were lucky that Chancellor High School’s gym roof was the only building which required repairs.
When asked just how close the roof at Chancellor was to maximum load bearing capacity, Dr. Worner stated, “There is no definitive answer to this as all roofs have varied depths of snow (due to drifting and/or rate of melting… some depths of eight inches of snow, some as deep as 16 inches). On the average, the snow depth atop the Chancellor High School gymnasium was 12 inches deep at 18 pounds per square inch. Chancellor High School’s gymnasium load bearing capacity for snow/ice was calculated at 28 pounds per square inch.”
Although the roof’s capacity was calculated at 28 lbs. per square inch, Dr. Worner revealed that “a visual inspection of the site [found] some vertical roof joists bent/twisted. With the snow/ice load, and the recent collapse of the Blacksburg High School gymnasium roof (Saturday, February 13, 2010) it was decided that in the best interest of safety, that ‘shoring up’ the roof joists would be the best course of action. After this step, the bent vertical roof joist would be replaced.”
In regards to the lost instructional time that the schools suffered, students have thus far managed to escape unscathed. Dr. Jerry Hill, Superintendent of Spotsylvania County Schools states, “There are no plans to alter spring break or to take away Memorial Day, and there are [also] no plans to change graduation dates for any of the five high schools.”
According to Dr. Hill, Spotsylvania County students attend school for an extra 20 minutes each day, which provides eight extra days we can miss without making them up. The county’s academic calendar also has “snow make-up days” already built into the schedule. Ironically, we actually lost two “snow make-up days” as a result of all the snow during February, and Dr. Hill stated that students “will make up three days, one in mid-March and two in early April.”
If the snow storms avoid Spotsylvania County for the rest of this, season students will find themselves in the relatively nice position of having enjoyed an extra “winter break” and not having to make up most of the missed days; however, should more snow occur Dr. Hill has put forth the disclaimer that “our current plan could be changed.”
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