For the 2020-2021 school year, leaders from the Sampson County district are considering a calendar with classes ending in May instead of June.

Different options were discussed during a recent work session for the Sampson County Schools Board of Education. Wendy Cabral, assistant superintendent of personnel services, presented an Innovative Year-Round (IYR) option, among others. It includes 178 student days and teachers working throughout the year. The first day of school was listed for the second full week of August 2020, instead of the fourth week.

The vote to officially approve the calendar during January meeting passed by a vote of 4 to 3. Board chair Kim Schmidlin, Tracy Dunn and Pat Usher voted against the change. Vice chair Daryll Warren and board members Robert Burley, Sonya Powell and Tim Register were in favor of moving away from the traditional calendar.

Before the vote, Schmidlin was not in favor of moving directly into the IYR calendar and want to give more people notice that it’s coming. Dunn added that she would like parents to be notified as well.

“I would like to see something sent to them addressing it,” Dunn said.

According to legal requirements, students must attend school for 185 days or 1,025 instructional hours. Ten-month employees are under a 215-day requirement, which includes student days, holidays, annual leave and workdays. The IYR calendar includes 87 days in the first semester and 91 in the second. This would make room in the spring for award shows, celebrations, testing and field days, which takes away from instructional time. Optional workdays are also listed for the summer months of June and July. There would also be summer opportunities for students as well.

To meet the mandate, another option presented was a 168-day calendar with fewer instructional days. School would start Aug. 24, 2020 and end May 21, 2021. Although it would put roughly equal amount of days in each semester and exams before Christmas, this gives teachers fewer days to cover the curriculum. Other challenges to meet calendar needs was increasing classroom time to 20 minutes and having fewer workdays for bus drivers, cafeteria workers and teacher assistants. With the option, Cabral said high school teachers were against this idea. Cabral said elementary teachers felt the same way.

“The argument from high school teachers was that we can’t do it in fewer days,” Cabral said. “We are struggling to gt it done in that short firs semester.”

A survey shows that 80 percent of Sampson teachers teachers are in favor of a IYR Calendar. Close to 20 percent were against it.

“I think it’s impressive that 80% of the staff that was surveyed is in favor of this,” Board Member Tim Register said. “I’ve always kind of been under the philosophy that if you want to do something good for children, do something good for teachers. They’re the ones that are closest to it. I understand parents are as well, but I’m willing to go with whatever the staff is in favor of.”

Some of the positives responses was having a workday/break every month and having a calendar aligned to Clinton City Schools, and exams before Christmas break and a full semester to teach in the fall. Negatives of the IYR was personal issues involving vacations and taking students to college. There were also concerns about playground equipment and buses being too hot and a short summer break, which would be tough for maintenance and technology departments.

“That’s when they get the bulk of their work done when children are out of the building and they’re being cut short two weeks,” Cabral said.

Some board members parental involvement with the survey process. Cabral said there was a Parent Advisory Council meeting, with one person in attendance.

“The calendar never involved any parent feedback, but we did try to make an effort to get some feedback to see if there were some things that were a dealbreaker or things that we could be mindful as the calendar was developed,” Cabral said.

Schmidlin said she had a lot of feedback from parents with a big concern for the start of the school and having notice before vacation planning. From teachers, she said the concern included summer school and vacation planning.

“It seems to me that people were open to the idea, but having it next year was a concern just because of the timing,” Schmidlin said.

Dunn said she would like to see more feedback and input from parents. Dunn said a lot of parents were unaware about the idea, since affects families as well. Board Member Robert Burley couldn’t speak for the entire district, but he said a lot of parents are already aware of the idea.

“I haven’t heard anyone say they were against it,” Dunn said. “And the people who said they were against it, sounds like personal reasons to me.”

Register added that the teachers and administrators closest to a job should be able to make the decision. After school leaders discussed legislative matters, the calendar, and its effect on the tourism industry, Schmidlin remembers when the district tried the IYR calendar for one year.

“It was painful for me as a parent because we lost all of one summer and the General Assembly said we won’t do that again,” she said. “For the next year, we had an extremely long summer.”

Cabral said the calendar presented was an example of what the calendar could look like, but it’ll be adjusted for teacher workdays and professional development. The IYR calendar option will be placed on the consent agenda for the next board meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, at the Board of Education Auditorium, 406 County Complex Road, Clinton.

Cabral
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_Dr-Wendy-Cabral-1-1.jpgCabral

Sampson County Board of Education members review documents during a presentation.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_1SCS_Board.jpgSampson County Board of Education members review documents during a presentation.
SCS Board splits on decision amid calendar talks

By Chase Jordan

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Reach Chase Jordan at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.