Local schools moved to a new start date last summer, but has that ability been taken away now by the state?

The N.C. General Assembly passed House Bill 1043 and Senate Bill 704 on Saturday, providing $1.6 billion in COVID-19 relief funding.

While it was the money that garnered all the attention, there was much more to the 51-page document of SB 704, including an extensive section concerning schools.

The part that got the attention of local school officials Saturday was Section 5.11 (b), which discusses school calendars.

Each local school administrative unit shall adopt a school calendar that includes the following:

a. An opening date for students of Aug. 17.

b. A closing date for students no later than June 11.

c. No remote instruction day shall be scheduled prior to Aug. 24.

With learning from home such a concern right now, the law requires school districts to submit their remote instruction plan to the State Board of Education no later than June 30, and that the state board submit a copy of each of these plans to a Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by Sept. 15.

In fact, five remote days are required to be included in the calendar year regardless of whether schools are affected next school year by the virus.

Local impact

Last year, children returned to school on Aug. 7, making for a shorter than usual summer break.

The reason for the early return was to allow schools to finish the first semester before the Christmas break rather than having to come back in the new year and then take mid-term tests or final exams.

This is a plan that was in the works for more than a year and a half for Surry County Schools.

At a meeting of the Surry County Board of Education, the central office staff explained how scheduling had been restricted by a state law that went into effect July 2013 requiring a “start date no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end date no later than the Friday closest to June 11.”

For August 2016 that start date was Aug. 29, which even further reduced the number of days in the fall semester.

School officials told board members that they thought the county could get around these requirements by classifying itself as a year-round district.

“Schools really are in use 12 months out of the year,” Dr. Travis Reeves, school superintendent, explained at that 2018 meeting.

Typically once regular classes let out, Reeves explained, June is a busy month with summer school classes, summer reading camps, STEM camps, art camp, agriculture camp and others. School buses are running to pick up kids for camps.

Then in July, the high schools stay busy hosting youth sports camps like football, basketball and volleyball.

At the start of August, fall sports teams begin practice, even though school isn’t back in session yet.

Reasoning

Moving the school calendar up put the school systems in line with college schedules, such as Surry Community College.

This is a big deal since the Surry Early College is held on the SCC campus as well as many upperclassmen taking courses through SCC.

Dr. Reeves told the school board at that first meeting that 38% of juniors and seniors were taking at least one college course.

One parent spoke up at the meeting to say that parents worry that not getting through the first semester before the end of the year could hurt their children’s test performances. There are two weeks for the kids to forget some of what they have been learning.

Also, with the N.C. High School Athletic Association trying to get most of the football season completed before basketball season starts, teams start playing games at the start of August.

Schools rely on revenue from home football games to support many other sports programs that don’t generate revenue. If a home game comes before school is back in session, the attendance suffers, and so does the gate receipts. It also means less fans to cheer on the home team.

Other sections

The county school board met via phone conference Monday evening.

Dr. Tracey Lewis, director of communications, said the calendar issue in SB 704 didn’t come up for discussion. The board did hear a summary of what the House Bill and Senate Bill means for education.

That summary was emailed to the central office from Katherine Joyce, the executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators. Joyce is also a 1984 graduate of Surry Central.

Joyce states that the funding package includes $231.6 million for K-12 schools for these purposes:

• $75 million, child nutrition;

• $70 million, summer learning;

• $56.5 million, remote learning (including devices and support);

• $15 million, exceptional children;

• $10 million, student health;

• $4.5 million, cybersecurity;

• $600,000, residential schools.

What’s next?

The new schedule was deemed a success for Mount Airy City Schools, and officials don’t want to give up that idea too easily.

The early college concept that the state set up some years ago has been great to get kids into a college mindset, said Dr. Morrison.

Some of these students come from homes where no one in the family has ever gotten a degree after high school, she noted, and the kids are graduating and continuing on to Surry Community College or even a four-year university.

Moving to a schedule that lined up with SCC made it more convenient for city school students to take classes in Dobson, and this year saw a jump of 15% in students taking college and career courses through SCC, the superintendent said.

In fact, overall for the junior and senior classes, about 65% of the students took at least one class this year.

So what can be done?

The email from Joyce states the definitions to be considered a year-round school. Morrison said options A and B aren’t feasible, but C sounds doable.

The district would have to create “a plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student’s instructional year,” stated Joyce.

The students perhaps could attend four quarters during the regular school year, and if there were any lingering obligations in the fifth session, that could be done through remote learning.

Creating a plan for remote learning makes sense, said Morrison. The schools have had to use it now and may still need it this fall. Some students have thrived on remote learning and some have not, she admitted.

In one case, there was a female student who seemed bright, but missed time in school and for homework because she has an ailing mother and younger siblings to care for, the superintendent pointed out. With remote learning, the pupil could do classwork at night after the young ones went to bed, and her grades soared.

During this pandemic, there has been a huge momentum with traditional public schools, said Morrison. They have shown themselves to be a hub of community with efforts like getting meals out to needy children and trying to get them access to home WiFi.

She said she just wants the state to show trust in the district that it will continue to make the best decisions for the children.

Not every district has the same needs; the schools at the coast don’t have the same needs as the mountains, she said. MACS should be able to create its own calendar.

https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/web1_IMGP2025_filtered.jpg Morrison https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/web1_Morrison-RGB.jpg Morrison Reeves https://www.mtairynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/web1_Dr.-Travis-L.-Reevesff-1.jpg Reeves

By Jeff Linville jlinville@mtairynews.com