BOE gets look at 2016-17 calendar

The new school year in Houston County will see a return to the old way of doing things.

Beth McLaughlin, director of community and school affairs, presented a draft of the 2016-2017 school year calendar to the Board of Education at Monday’s work session held at Bonaire Middle School.

The current school year began on a Monday, she said, and it wasn’t universally well received.

Respondents to a survey indicated teachers and administrators were more amenable to starting the school year later in the week, she said.

“Based on the survey, they preferred to start on a Thursday or Friday in order to make changes in the schedule and enroll any new students,” McLaughlin said.

Also, the survey showed teachers liked having four days of pre-planning before a semester, along with a teacher work day at the end of a semester, she said.

According to the proposed schedule, pre-planning days would be July 25-28, with the first day of classes July 29. The Fall Break would coincide with Columbus Day and would run Oct. 7-14. The first semester would end for students Dec. 15, with Dec. 16 a work day for teachers. The Christmas holiday would run Dec. 19-30, and classes would resume Jan. 4, 2017. Spring Break would take place March 27-31, and the last day of school would be May 24, with high school graduation set for May 26-27.

Students would attend school for 180 days and teachers 190 days.

The board was to take up the matter at its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday.

HHJ News