State requirements and regional obligations will keep students in Williamsburg-James City County Schools in the classroom until at least June 16 next year.
The WJCC School Board reviewed the most recent draft calendar for the school division’s 2015-2016 school year at its meeting Tuesday night.
Under the current draft, classes would commence Sept. 8 for the 2015-16 school year, nearly a week later than the first day of classes for 2014.
That late start date is due to Virginia’s so-called King’s Dominion law, which requires school divisions in the state to begin the school year after Labor Day, which falls on Sept. 7 this year.
The draft calendar also shortens winter break from 10 instructional days off to eight. Deputy Superintendent Olwen Herron said the change was necessary to align WJCC’s calendar with regional institutions, like New Horizons Regional Education Center and the Center for Autism.
“We didn’t feel it was appropriate for some of our students to go to school while others weren’t,” Herron said.
Herron said the calendar committee, which consists of 20 teachers, administrators and community members, preferred a 10-day break, but had to adjust to match with the region.
Graduation would be scheduled for June 18 under the draft calendar.
She added the committee attempted to maximize instructional time and professional learning time with the draft calendar, while distributing days evenly across quarters and semesters.
State law requires school divisions in Virginia to hold classes equal to 180 instructional days per academic year.
Herron said the committee’s work began in August by soliciting input from the community. She said 183 members of the WJCC community responded to a survey on the calendar’s construction.
The current draft of the 2015-16 calendar includes several changes from previous school years.
Herron said the committee tried to schedule early release days on Friday when possible, as parents who responded to the school division’s survey said they were less disruptive to family schedules at the end of the week.
The committee also discussed the possibility of making interim student grade reports come earlier in the quarter, allowing students more time to adjust their classroom performances.
Board members pointed to the late date for the last day of school as the calendar’s main drawback.
“Pray for no snow days,” Elise Emanuel (City of Williamsburg) said.
An inordinate number of snow days last year forced the school division to rearrange its calendar late into the spring.
Herron said the committee had designated certain days off as potential weather makeup days, including the day before Thanksgiving, Dec. 22, and Presidents Day.
The school board will consider the final draft at its meeting later this month.
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