Board sets school start date Aug. 6

After reading information provided by representatives of the calendar committee regarding the pros and cons to early and late starts, four of the school board members opted to go with the early start date of Aug. 6.

Board member Faron Atwood chose to go with the committee's initial recommendation of having a later start date of Aug. 25. Explaining his position, Atwood said, "I just think we should go with the committee's recommendation when they make a recommendation and if they don't have the information when they make their first recommendation, I think they ought to come back together as a committee with all the information and make another recommendation to the board."

During the February meeting, it was reported that after three meetings of the school's calendar committee, it was determined that staff from three of the four schools—Sparta being the exception—wanted to have a later starting date. It was pointed out during the March meeting that earlier meetings of the committee did not include Jayne Phipps-Boger with Wilkes Community College.

A list of benefits and negatives to both an early and late start were included in the board members' packets. In terms of a late start, benefits included avoiding the possibility of splitting high school end-of-course exams at Christmas if four or five days were missed in December; the calendar would align with the rest of the state in terms of staff development and meetings; and there would be more time after Easter break before end of grade and end of course tests. On the negative side of a later start, fewer community college courses would be offered to high school students and adults in the community; a longer summer break could increase learning loss; historically, more school days are missed in January which could pose a problem in the administration of end of course test; it could result in non-certified staff not getting a full check until the end of September; and it creates problems regarding prepaying school staff.

Meanwhile, the benefits of an early start include the early date aligning with the local community college schedule; first semester tests can be completed before Christmas break; allowing a better flexibility in terms of making up days missed and still getting out in early June; and it increases flexibility when it comes to summer school.

Negatives of an early start included the pressure of "squeezing in exams before Christmas" if the end of course tests are interrupted, noting "the disruption of giving exams after the break is problematic;" and the early start date doesn't align with a lot of the state's other school districts.

The early start date has students walking school halls on Aug. 6 and the last day of school being May 24, 2010.

 

Get the whole story - read this week's edition of The Alleghany News!