Officials with Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District plan to hold two meetings with parents next week to discuss modifying the 2021-22 calendar to year-round school.
Superintendent Eddie Peasant sent an email to parents Thursday that said district officials and employees have been in talks “both formal and informal” about potentially moving to a modified schedule next school year. The email contained a survey for parents to complete and information on how to log in to two Zoom meetings, one at 6 p.m. Tuesday and one at noon Thursday, to further discuss the schedule.
“We have an opportunity to rethink the traditional school calendar and to determine if a modified school calendar could offer a more personalized school experience with additional enrichment opportunities for learning,” Peasant wrote in the email.
Public Information Officer Nicole Thomas said district officials have been in talks with Corinth School District, which has held year-round school since 2016, and other school districts about how the potential transition to the new calendar would work. She and Peasant both said the district would require the same number of days — 180 learning days for students and 187 work days for teachers — as well as the same holidays, including Labor Day, Christmas, Easter and extended fall and spring breaks. The summer would be shortened from 12 to six weeks, and those extra days would be distributed to longer breaks throughout the year.
Thomas said the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it has presented to school districts has caused district officials — and those at other schools around the state — to look at a modified calendar “through a different lens.” By having extended breaks throughout the school year, students could retain more information and any in need of extra help could get remediation throughout the year, instead of all at once over summer break.
The breaks throughout the year, Thomas said, could also offer more educational opportunities for students who don’t necessarily need that extra help.
“In the letter, we talk about extended breaks in the fall and spring specifically,” she said. “Some of those days would be considered inter-sessions. … The inter-sessions would be opportunities for students to participate in remediation, to help master some standards, or opportunities for enrichment, so more of a summer camp-type experience. So … the opportunity would be there for all students.”
Columbus Municipal School District officials, who have also spoken with Corinth School District, began asking for parents’ input last month to gauge support for moving to a similar modified schedule. While some parents are enthusiastic, The Dispatch previously reported, others raised concerns about their children missing traditional summer experiences. Some parents who work said they are concerned about the logistics of having to schedule child care for younger students for multiple two- or three-week periods scattered throughout the year, rather than one two-month block in the summer.
Thomas said the latter concern, in particular, is one the district wants to be sure to discuss with parents.
“Certainly that is part of our conversations with our community … and definitely we’re exploring some options for that,” she said.
In addition to the parent meetings, district officials will hold further meetings with faculty and at least one with community stakeholders before bringing the issue to the school board for a final decision. Though there is no set deadline for parents to turn in their surveys, Thomas said she will likely send a follow-up email reminding parents to give their input before the board approves next year’s calendar.
The district must finalize and turn in its 2021-22 calendar to the Mississippi Department of Education by May 30.
“I think we’re always reflecting and thinking about how we might be able to offer a more personalized school experience to meet the needs of all of our students and how that might look, and we want to take this opportunity with the calendar to extend that conversation to our faculty and our parents and our greater community,” Thomas said.
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