This school year when students have a short school day because of a weather-mandated late start, they miss instructional time. A calendar under consideration by the Greene County board of education could eliminate that “bonus” time for students by adding the lost time back into the schedule. The change comes as the Iowa legislature approved an option for schools to count instructional time – 1080 hours would be required per school year – rather than the customary 180 school days.
The board got its first look at a proposed 2014-15 calendar at its Jan. 8 meeting. Superintendent Tim Christensen called it a “mirror image” of this year’s calendar, with similar dates and a 1:45 student dismissal most Wednesdays.
The proposed calendar schedules the first day of school for students as Aug. 20 and the last day as May 21. Teachers would report Aug. 15 and finish May 22. It includes 1081 total hours for students and 190 contract days for teachers. A typical week of school, with the Wednesday early dismissal, is 30-1/2 hours for students.
Christensen recommended the change in counting hours to the board. “One of the issues that’s nice with hours rather than days is that you can make some decisions about adding hours here and there that give you more flexibility when you have to add a day,” he said.
For example, students could have a full instruction day on a Wednesday to make up time lost due to weather.
Christensen planned to share the proposed calendar with teachers and the school improvement advisory committee for comments.
The state mandates school boards hold a public hearing on a start date earlier than Aug. 30. The board scheduled that hearing for its next meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 pm in the conference room at the south grade building.
The board may approve a calendar at that meeting or at the March 12 meeting, depending on comments received.
District residents who have edline logins can see the calendar under the Board of Education tab on the district’s website.
