BREAKING: All Prince William County schools remain closed Thursday on code green status….See More

The roads and bus routes are not clear enough yet to fully reopen Prince William County schools. As a result, schools will again be closed to students on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Prince William County schools have been working “closely” with the Virginia Department of Transportation to ensure the safety of roads for school buses, but as many as 50 roads with “poor conditions, impacting several hundred bus routes” were identified by the school division, according to the school division’s announcement.

To prevent extended closures in the future, the school division is working to establish “snow emergency routes” for some bus routes, the announcement said.

Presumably, the snow emergency routes would enable the school division and transportation officials to prioritize certain roads to ensure buses can get in and out of neighborhoods safely.

The school division has been closed to students since Monday, Jan. 6 due to the ongoing impacts of Winter Storm Blair, which dumped up to 11 inches of snow on parts of the county.

Frigid temperatures have kept the snow from melting, making snow-clearing more difficult.

The school division is once again closed on a “code green” status for Thursday.

A code green means:

Schools are closed for students and teachers. Offices are closed to the public.
Virtual classes are canceled.
The school age child care (SACC) program will not open.
All school activities (day and evening) are canceled including team practices.
All non-school activities (day and evening) are canceled.
Students may use the day optionally to catch-up or voluntarily work on assignments already assigned, the school division announcement said.
Teachers do not report to work but school-based administrators including principals and assistant principals report to work at 10 a.m.
Inclement weather employees report on time.