County Public Schools put new calendar idea on the shelf – for now

The Warren County School Board is not facing implementation of new school calendar system for the coming school year. Royal Examiner File Photo

Change can be difficult and –according to an update from Warren County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Melody Sheppard – a 60-percent negative public reaction and even 50/50 split among teachers is not enough to propel forward movement to a new school calendar.

The proposed calendar change was primarily designed to provide a week of focused instructional time at the end of each of four grading periods throughout the school year. Those break/instructional periods would result in a reduction of summer break from the current nine, to six weeks.

“An extended year calendar offers the opportunity for students to participate in remediation and enrichment after each advisory period. These breaks are called intersessions. If a student does not participate in remediation or enrichment during the intersession, the intersession week would be a holiday for the student,” the survey preface explained.

However, at the June monthly meeting of the Warren County School Board, Sheppard reported that results of those surveys soliciting staff and community input had been tallied. She reported over 400 responses from teachers and about 1,600 responses from community members to the surveys.

Surveys on the idea were circulated to teachers on May 1. The following day surveys were sent out and made available on the public school website and office for parent and citizen input.

The result of the surveys was that 50% of teachers and 40% of community members were in favor of the change to an extended school year calendar providing the opportunity for additional, focused instruction in subjects throughout the school year.

Based on that feedback Sheppard told the school board that for now the new calendar concept is being put on hold. Sheppard told the board administrative staff believes “a majority of stakeholders” – parents and teachers – should support the idea of the adjusted school calendar before implementation occurs.

However, Sheppard also assured the school board that efforts will continue to find ways to support those students who are at greatest risk of academic decline during extended periods away from school.

As acknowledged in the survey preface, school administrators were seeking feedback on potential disruptions to families of students or operators of local businesses. Several questions addressed whether parents think their childcare costs would be impacted; or if small business owners thought they would be negatively impacted by a reduction in the number of summer weeks temporary help would be available.

In either of the school calendar scenarios, the total number of school days in the year would remain the same at 180. A sample extended-year calendar included with the copy of the survey showed a school year start date of August 1 and an end of school year date the following June 12, resulting in the month-and-a-half summer break.