Stephens Co. BOE Working Ahead on School Calendars

The Stephens County Board of Education is trying to work ahead on its school calendars.

Earlier this year, the school board approved the 2017-2018 school calendar for next school year.

Thursday, Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey spoke to the board about the school calendar for the year after next, the 2018-2019 calendar.

Dorsey said getting a year ahead would actually be very helpful in many ways.

“You may ask, ‘Why so early?’,” said Dorsey. “The reason is that it is amazing how much we have to try and get situated with testing and people with wanting to know what they are doing for camps and all of that, so what we would like to do is always be one year out. We would not be reviewing but one calendar next year and that would be around Spring.”

Dorsey said that each of the schools put forward their ideas for the 2018-2019 school calendar and were pretty much in agreement.

He said he has given the school board two different drafts to look at.

“The first draft is what four of the schools selected, which is basically the year that you have already approved for next year and it has just been adjusted accordingly as if it were the year following, and that was Toccoa Elementary, Stephens County Middle, Stephens County High, and Liberty (Elementary),” said Dorsey. “The second one you have is a draft from Big A (Elementary). They had some changes they would like to be considered, most of them rather small.”

According to Dorsey, the Fifth Grade Academy had a small change it wanted considered as well regarding moving an off day from one month to another.

Dorsey said he would like to have the Board of Education consider taking action on the 2018-2019 school calendar in March.