Will Jasper Co. schools start year-round schedule? Here’s what parents have to say
The majority of families who responded to a Jasper County School District survey favor shifting to a year-round schedule for the 2022-23 school year.
A year-round schedule has been proposed as a way to combat learning losses that have affected students all over the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the community poll were shared at an informational meeting Wednesday night.
The poll asked parents, teachers, students and community members about preferences and concerns regarding the proposal. Of those surveyed, 26% were against a modified calendar while 41% liked the idea of having two weeks off regularly.
Via the district’s Facebook page, Superintendent Rechel Anderson discussed the survey results and feedback from parents in one of the district’s most-answered poll to date. The poll received just shy of 400 responses.
“We haven’t seen this type of response since I’ve been superintendent in 2018, in the history of my tenure,” Anderson said.
Surveys involving the school calendar typically receive around 70 responses, Anderson said.
The results of the survey will be discussed again at the next school board meeting on Feb. 14.
Proposed calendar
Under the modified calendar, students would still attend the same 180 days of classes that they do now but would have a two-week break every nine weeks with a shorter summer vacation.
During these two-week breaks, parents have the option of having their students continue to attend school. Students who are eligible for the two-week break and those who are required to continue attending classes during that time will be determined via the district’s i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment.
Teachers will staff schools on a voluntary basis during the breaks. While salaries will remain the same, Anderson said, those who volunteer will receive additional pay for their time.
The district “recognizes that childcare can be an issue” during the breaks, Anderson said. For families who may need help finding childcare, the district will work with local Boys & Girls Clubs. Both food and transportation would be available for students during the two-weeks breaks.
If the year-round proposal is approved, the school district would decide between two calendar options that were referred to as “option A” and “option B” in the meeting.
The survey showed that 84% of people are in favor of “option A” instead of calendar “option B,” Anderson said.
In “option A,” Anderson said, school would run from July 21 until June 5. This would mean about seven weeks of summer vacation, just one week shorter than what students have under the current calendar. For students who are receiving “academic intervention,” or getting additional help in school, the last day would be on June 9, she said.
“The point we are just taking summer break away from our children, that is just not true,” Anderson said.
Under “option A,” the five days provided for Thanksgiving break would remain the same. End-of-semester exams, which are traditionally administered when students return from Christmas break, would be administered before the vacation. With the modified calendar, two days would be added to students’ week-long spring break.
Under “option B,” summer break would last from June 7 until July 21 with a shorter Thanksgiving break, Anderson said.
Students’ spring break would remain as it is under the current calendar without the extra two days allotted in “option A.”
The most frequent community concerns included worries about childcare and the potential impact on after-school programs like sports. The district said it did not think the calendar would have an impact on these after-school programs.
Parents also were concerned whether the modified schedule might worsen the bus driver shortage that has affected transportation in the district. The shortage, Anderson said, is statewide and has “nothing to do with the calendar.”
“It doesn’t matter what calendar we’re operating on, if transportation is an issue because there are not individuals ... it will always be an issue,” Anderson said.
The district is looking to hire bus drivers to address the shortage, she said.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 9:16 PM.
