Stephens Co. Continuing Calendar Discussions

The Stephens County Board of Education is continuing to consider a couple of different options for the 2016-2017 school calendar.

Board of Education members and School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey discussed the calendar at Thursday’s work session.

Dorsey said that almost 700 people responded to an online survey regarding the proposed school calendar, half of which were staff and the other half being parents and students.

“The calendar option they selected out of the two presented was Calendar Option One,” said Dorsey. “That is the one with the full week at Thanksgiving and a teacher work day in October.”

He said that got about 60 percent of the vote.

The other option that received about 40 percent of the vote was a calendar with a similar start and end date that included a Fall break, but also a shorter Thanksgiving holiday.

Dorsey said one of the main concerns people expressed through comments on the calendar was a desire for students to start later than the currently proposed August 4.

He said starting on August 4 falls right in line with most other area school districts.

“All of them are starting on the same week we are with the exception of three,” said Dorsey. “Two of those start the following Monday and one the following Friday. The one that starts the following Friday is Franklin County. They are providing 165 student days that year, while the rest of the schools you see listed there that are starting the same week as us or that Monday are all having 180 student calendar days.”

According to Dorsey, counties starting on Monday, August 8, but did that by moving calendar days from the first semester to the second semester.

Another concern Dorsey said he hears is the heat for children riding the bus in early August.

He said that data shows there is little temperature difference between early August and late August.

“From August 1 to August 21, it takes to there before you see a one degree change in average temperature in our county for the month of August,” said Dorsey. “You would have to get to Labor Day before you saw any real significant temperature change.”

Board of Education Chair Tony Crunkleton said the main concern he heard regarding when teachers had to go back, more so than students.

“A lot of the teachers just wish they did not have to come back at all,” said Crunkleton. “They said they wish they could have that last week in July.”

Dorsey said one option would be to give teachers the option of either working the two pre-planning days in July or making them post-planning days.

He said you can also push things back a couple of days by either moving days to the second semester or by getting rid of days at Thanksgiving or Christmas to start later.

The Stephens County Board of Education is scheduled to consider the 2016-2017 calendar at its meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.