The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be the chief executive officer of the public school system and shall have the following duties:

1. Serve as the executive officer of the Division of Vocational and Adult Education of the state Virginia Department of Education;

2. Establish and maintain an orderly plan for preserving and making accessible regulations, standards, guidelines, and policies adopted by the state State Board of Education;

3. Act as an agent for the State Board of Education and seek board approval on all federal government projects before funds are obtained and the project or projects are is implemented. Annual program plans for each program of federal aid to education in which the state desires to participate will be compiled by him the superintendent for consolidation review by the State Board of Education prior to submission to the U.S. Office of Education;

4. Prepare or have prepared suitable registers, blanks, and other forms which that may be necessary for making appropriate reports to the State Virginia Department of Education. By circulars and otherwise, he the superintendent shall give information and instruction conducive to the proper organization and conduct of the schools;

5. Require of division superintendents detailed reports annually and special reports from time to time as he the superintendent may deem proper, and use all proper means to promote an appreciation of education among the people;

6. Preserve in convenient form in his the superintendent's office all papers, documents, and records relating to educational work in Virginia and in other states;

7. Prepare, as prescribed by law, a plan for apportioning the money appropriated by the state for public school purposes;

8. Provide for his the superintendent's office a suitable official seal with which official documents may be authenticated; and

9. Submit annually to the State Board of Education on or before the first day of November a detailed report of his the superintendent's official proceedings for the year ending the 30th day of June preceding, including receipts and expenditures for the public schools, a statistical report showing the number of children, male and female, respectively in the state, and in each county and city, compensation paid teachers, the cost of education per pupil, and whatever else may tend to exhibit the real conditions of the schools. It shall be the duty of the superintendent to offer suggestions to the State Board of Education and to the General Assembly concerning matters pertaining to the Department of Education at any time that the public interest seems to require it; and

10. The State Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to approve, in compliance with § 22.1-98 of the Code of Virginia, reductions in the school term for a school or the schools in a school division without a proportionate reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund.

The following words and terms when used in this regulation shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Declared state of emergency" means the declaration of an emergency before or after an event by the Governor or by officials in a locality that requires the closure of any or all schools within a school division.

"Instructional time" means the period that students are in school on a daily or annual basis as defined in the Virginia Standards of Accreditation (8VAC20-132).

"Severe weather conditions or other emergency situations" means those circumstances presenting a threat to the health or safety of students that result from severe weather conditions or other emergencies, including natural and man-made disasters, energy shortages, and power failures.

"Teaching days" means days when instruction is provided.

"Teaching hours" means hours when instruction is provided.

A. The length of every school's term in every school division shall be a minimum of 180 teaching days or 990 teaching hours in any school year.

B. Nothing in these regulations shall prohibit a school division from exceeding the 180 teaching day or 990 teaching hour requirement in any of its schools.

A. When severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of a school or schools in a school division for five or fewer days, the school or schools shall make up all missed days by adding teaching days to the school calendar or extending the length of the teaching day.

B. When severe weather conditions or other emergency situations have resulted in the closing of a school or schools in a school division for six or more days, the school or schools shall make up the missed days in accordance with § 22.1-98 of the Code of Virginia by adding teaching days to the school calendar or extending the length of the teaching day.

C. Nothing in these regulations shall preclude a school division from making up missed teaching days by providing students with teaching hours equivalent to such missed teaching days.

A. The Board of Education may waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional teaching days or teaching hours to compensate for closings resulting from a declared state of emergency, severe weather conditions, or other emergency situations.

B. The Board of Education shall waive the requirement that school divisions provide additional teaching days or teaching hours to compensate for school closings resulting from an evacuation directed and compelled by the Governor pursuant to § 44-146.17 of the Code of Virginia for up to five teaching days.

C. If the local school board desires a waiver for days missed as the result of a declared state of emergency, severe weather conditions, or other emergency situations, it shall submit a request for a waiver to the Board of Education. The request shall include evidence of efforts that have been made by the school division to reschedule as many days as possible.

D. The division superintendent and the chair of the local school board shall certify that every reasonable effort for making up lost teaching days or teaching hours was exhausted before requesting a waiver of the requirement.

E. The Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to approve, in compliance with this chapter, reductions in the school term for a school or the schools in a school division.

F. If the waiver is denied, the school division shall make up the missed instructional time in accordance with 8VAC20-521-30 and § 22.1-98 of the Code of Virginia.

A. There shall be no proportionate reduction in the amount paid by the Commonwealth from the Basic School Aid Fund if a local school division:

1. Completes instructional time in accordance with 8VAC20-521-30 and § 22.1-98 of the Code of Virginia; or

2. Obtains a waiver for closings resulting from a declared state of emergency, an evacuation directed or compelled by the Governor, severe weather conditions, or other emergency situations in accordance with 8VAC20-521-40.

B. The local appropriations for educational purposes necessary to fund 180 teaching days or 990 teaching hours shall not be proportionally reduced by any local governing body due to a reduction in the length of the term of any school if the missed days are made up in accordance with 8VAC20-521-30 or the schools in a school division have been granted a waiver in accordance with 8VAC20-521-40.

A. The Virginia Department of Education shall annually notify local school divisions of the provisions of these regulations and the Code of Virginia regarding reductions in the length of the school term.

B. Local school division superintendents shall certify annually, at a time and in a form prescribed by the Virginia Department of Education, that they have read and complied with these provisions and are implementing a plan for making up any missed time that has not been waived in accordance with these regulations.