Two years after it first considered moving to a modified school calendar, the Columbus Municipal School district is poised to consider the idea again.
We believe the timing is right, even though the change to a shortened summer break that creates a pair of two-week breaks in the fall and winter may present a challenge to parents.
We are not dismissive of those challenges, particularly when it comes to finding safe places for children during these two-week intervals.
But “finding a way” is a big part of parenting, as any parent knows. What’s best for the child is often least convenient for the parent. Sacrifice is a job requirement for parenting.
Meanwhile, the primary benefits of a modified calendar cannot be seriously disputed. Study after study shows that learning retention diminishes greatly over an extended summer break. In an extensive 2020 study, the American Education Research Journal analyzed 200 million test scores from 18 million students in 7,500 school districts. The study showed that 52 percent of students who were out of school for the extended summer break lost 39 percent of what they learned from the previous school year.
CMSD had the opportunity to be the first district in the Golden Triangle to adopt the modified calendar in February 2021. It appeared then-Superintendent Cherie Labat had the support of the CMSD Board of Trustees to make the change, but a group of teachers and parents pushed back, saying they were not allowed to provide input and that there were lingering questions about how the modified calendar would work.
After a public hearing, where those objections were greatly amplified, the modified calendar idea was abandoned. To some, the board’s apparent about-face was an example of bowing to the loudest voices in the room.
Nine months later, the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District approved the modified calendar for the current school year. Two months ago, the Lowndes County School District adopted the modified schedule for the 2023-24 school year.
As CMSD revisits its calendar, it benefits from being able to observe and learn from SOCSD, which is halfway through its first modified calendar. It is an apples to apples comparison. All of the questions and concerns those Columbus parents and teachers expressed two years ago were questions and concerns SOCSD had to address and, apparently, been successful in doing so.
Since the 1960s, more than 2,300 school districts have adopted the modified calendar.
In addition to overall learning retention, the two-week breaks created by the modified calendar allow teachers time to work with students who have fallen behind during the term. When students fall behind early, the learning gap often creates a multiplier effect. Without these intercessions, those students often find themselves hopelessly behind by the end of the school year. They have simply fallen too far behind to catch up.
These two indisputable facts alone should be enough to support the move to a modified calendar if we truly believe that academic achievement is the highest priority.
Convenience should yield to necessity.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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