After Columbus Municipal School District backed off its first attempt two years ago, the discussion for a modified school calendar is returning to where it began.
With Starkville- Oktibbeha School District well into its first year on a modified calendar, and Lowndes County School District opting to start one next school year, CMSD’s board again is considering the move as a way of synchronizing with other area districts.
I graduated from Starkville High (School), so I’m affiliated with Starkville,” board president Yvonne Cox told The Dispatch. “I can see how this is benefiting the community. Likewise Lowndes County is just beginning to decide to do it. It is a positive thing to have your schools all on the same schedule, so that would be a positive with reconsideration also.”
Interim Superintendent Dennis Dupree broached the subject with the board at a special-call meeting Saturday, presenting both a traditional and modified calendar for the board to consider.
He has also scheduled a community input session on the calendar options at 6 p.m. Feb. 2 at Joe Cook Elementary.
In the proposed modified calendar presented Saturday, school would begin for the 2023-24 year for students on July 27 and end May 30.
There would be two intersession periods — one before fall break and one before spring break — for remediation and enrichment for students who attend. There is only one week of intersessions each semester, and there is a full week of fall and spring break each. There is also a two-week Christmas break.
A modified calendar still consists of 180 days for students and 187 contract days for teachers. Intersessions are not part of a teachers’ contract days, so they will be paid extra if they choose to work them.
The modified calendar can help students recover better from learning loss experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dupree said.
“I think districts across the state and across the nation are looking at ways to better serve students,” Dupree told The Dispatch. “I think the pandemic kind of gave us a sense of, ‘We better look at things a little different than what we’ve been doing.’ You’ve got to offer students more support along the way, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Dupree said he decided to present the modified calendar option after talking with school administrators, those participating in the monthly superintendent roundtable, a teacher advisory committee and a student advisory committee.
“We’re trying our very best to involve all of our stakeholders, … and we’re trying to take our time to answer as many questions as possible,” Dupree said. “… We started with administrators, and if anywhere along the way if anyone said, ‘We don’t like this; we don’t want to do it,’ we wouldn’t have gotten this far along.”
In 2021, the board shot down a proposed modified calendar in a 3-2 vote with current members Cox and Telisa Young voting against it.
The board was initially open to the idea, presented by then-superintendent Cherie Labat. But public outcry against the change, which focused largely on the shorter summer and child care options for working parents during the longer fall and spring breaks, scuttled the plan.
That proposal had school starting July 15, 2021 and ending June 8, 2022.
It was the first district in the area to begin publicly discussing a modified calendar.
Cox told The Dispatch she now sees more clearly the benefits of the calendar, particularly for student remediation. However, in order for her to vote for it, she would need to see “total buy-in” from teachers, parents and students.
“They’re the ones doing the work and participation,” Cox said.
In addition to the public meeting at Joe Cook, Dupree will meet with after-school programs at the Boys and Girls Club and Columbus Parks and Recreation to see what options would be available to parents for after-school during the intersessions.
“We’re talking with after-school programs hoping they’ll reach out to parents to let them know they will be available,” Dupree said. “We want to make sure that we do our part in saying, ‘These are some things that will be available for your students if you choose to participate in the intersession days.’”
If the district again can’t get enough public buy-in, Dupree’s traditional school calendar proposal has school starting Aug. 4 and ending May 24. It would include a two-day fall break in October, a two-week Christmas break, and a weeklong spring break in March.
Dupree said he would like to present the 2023-24 school calendar with all of the information gathered from the various stakeholders by the next regular board meeting on Feb. 16 for approval.
“We’re hoping that if we do our due diligence in getting the word out and getting information out and feedback, we’re hoping that we will be able to have something to present to the board at the next meeting,” Dupree said. “… We’ve not finalized a calendar. This is just another choice we are looking at, and we want to get as much input as possible.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.