School board to close schools April 21 amid special election; adds 10 minutes to school day
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Summary
The board voted to close Virginia Beach schools for the April 21 special election and to add 10 minutes to the school day from April 13 through June 8 to satisfy the 180-day statutory requirement after the Virginia Department of Education said virtual learning that day would not count toward instructional hours.
The Virginia Beach School Board voted unanimously on March 24 to close all division schools on April 21, 2026, the date of a special election using 58 school sites, and to add 10 minutes to each school day from April 13 through June 8 to meet the statutory 180-school-day requirement.
Tommy Shattuck, director of the Office of Security and Emergency Management, told the board the division's partners in law enforcement, emergency management and elections concluded the risk of operating 58 polling locations while students were present "cannot be mitigated to a sufficient level." He said the Virginia Department of Education had advised that remote learning for that special-election day would not be permitted to count toward the state's required 180 days or 990 instructional hours. "Therefore, we recommend that all VBCPS schools be closed on April 21," Shattuck said.
Public commenters and several board members urged the board to consider alternatives such as using instructional hours instead of days or splitting the 10 minutes (five minutes at the start and five minutes at the end of the day) to reduce disruptions. Heather Sipe, president of the Virginia Beach Education Association, urged the board to count hours because VBCPS already exceeds the state's minimum seat-hour requirement; she said the division schedules about 1,170 instructional hours in its 180-day calendar and asked why those extra hours could not be used.
Board members discussed operational and equity trade-offs, including transportation timing, extracurricular commitments and staff impacts. Dr. Robertson noted the division recommends adding 10 minutes at the end of the day as the least-disruptive option, but said the board could choose to split time if it preferred. The board briefly considered and then withdrew a substitute motion to temporarily count hours in lieu of days because policy and bylaw requirements would have required additional notice or unanimity for suspension of policy.
After discussion, the board approved the presented calendar adjustment (close April 21 and add 10 minutes to the day) with a recorded 10-0 vote. Dr. Robertson said staff will explore food-relief options for families and will notify principals and parents about operational details.
Next steps: the administration will communicate the schedule change to families and post guidance on school webpages and social channels; the board signaled interest in a summer policy review to consider whether the division should move from a days-based calendar to an hours-based calendar in future years.
