The school day for Flagler County high school students will be longer by seven minutes each day starting next fall, with a minute added to each class period so the instructional calendar can still meet the legally required total number of class hours per semester, while the Thanksgiving week holiday is not affected. Class periods will go from 47 to 48 minutes.
The school board today endorsed next year’s school calendar, and will formally approve it at a meeting in two weeks.
The district is having to go to the longer day for high school students because it is losing two instructional days next year. By law, the earliest that school’s fall semester may start is on Aug. 10. In 2024, August 10 falls on a Saturday. That pushes the earliest opening day to Aug. 12, losing those two days, though teachers will be required to report on Aug. 5. The last day of school would be on May 29, 2025 for students, May 30 for teachers.
2024 is also an election year, with the primary on Aug. 28 and the general election on Nov. 5. The school board after the 2016-17 school year decided not to have students on campus on election days so as not to have undue interactions between voters and students at polling precincts, or expose students to the unpredictably vulgar behavior of some political candidates. Five elementary schools and Matanzas High School are all polling precincts.
Accounting for those lost days, and if a semester was to be 87 days long, the combined instructional time would fall short of legally required total of 67.5 hours per class. (Students are also required to have 900 hours of instruction–180 instructional days, give or take a couple–in a school year.) “We need 48 minutes in the in the period” to make the math work, the district’s Louise Bossardet said.
So the district could make up those two lost days by having school on election days, or abbreviate Thanksgiving week off by two days, which would then have students in school that Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. But school board members were unhesitant and adamant when they discussed the matter last week: “add a minute,” they said as if in chorus. “It’s a no-brainer,” Board member Colleen Conklin said.
“That’s what’s going to keep the community and the staff and the kids happy,” Board member Cheryl Massaro said. “The Thanksgiving break has been a priority for families,” Superintendent LaShakia Moore said.
That’s how it was to be when a 10-member committee met on Monday to work out next year’s school calendar. That committee includes district personnel, representatives from the service worker and teacher unions, and parents.
Teacher contracts will not be affected, wither: teachers are required to provide 27 hours of instruction per week. The additional 35 minutes per week will not trip that maximum. Middle and elementary schools will not have a lengthier day.
The current high school day starts at 8:10 a.m., ends at 2:40 p.m. The start will not change. But the day will end at 2:47. Middle schools will start at 7:30 a.m., ending at 1:40 p.m., elementary schools at 9:10 a.m., ending at 3:40 p.m.
The district likes to end its first semester by winter break, aligning with dual enrollment calendars. It’s also a natural stopping point for semester-long classes, and enable seamless transfers in and out of the district. That, too, will not change. As matters stand now, the first semester will be 85 days long, and the second semester will be 94 days long.
Hurricane make-up days, should they be necessary, are scheduled in this order of priority: Oct. 14, 2024, Jan. 6, 2025 (both are currently teacher work days, off for students), Nov. 25 and Nov. 26, 2024 (during Thanksgiving week), Dec. 23 (the first day of Christmas break), and March 24, 2025, another teacher work day.
Winter break currently stretches from Dec. 23 through Jan. 6 for students. Spring break will be scheduled for the week of March 17-24, concurrent with St. Johns County and Daytona State College.
“If you hear of any concerns, please know that there’s an open line to us and happy to bring it back to the committee,” Bossardet said.
Purveyor of Truth says
I suspect your readers might prefer some journalism that exposes the details about how the $726,000, was given away, not so much about adding one minute to each class period. Just some constructive feedback.
TR says
So the high school students will be off the extra time but not the rest of the students in the lower grades? How dumb is that?
If they don’t want students on campus on election day and the elementary school students are not getting the days off like the high school kids, how will that work being 4 out of 5 schools are polling places. Makes me wonder the logic these so called leaders are thinking?
FlaglerLive says
If we had details to provide on the loss of the $726,000, we would. The superintendent in an interview on Monday told us the matter is still under investigation, with Chase bank still reviewing the process surrounding the incident at its end, to determine if anything went awry there (though that’s not likely). As for the additional minute: it’s not either or. Judging from the thousands of times this article was read, we suspect readers are interested in knowing about their school calendar next year.
Anonymous says
Everyone receives the same amount of day off. They are adding 7 minutes to the high school’s academic day. That is the only difference.
Purveyor of Truth says
Got it. Thanks.
jake says
With an extra 7 minutes, they will all be geniuses.
TR says
So the only kids that have to go to school longer are the high school kids? I think that if their going to add 7 minutes per day to the high school days, then ALL students classes should be extended 7 minutes.