SDOC considering Three School Calendar options
Oconee County school officials are already in the process of planning for the 2015-16 school year. Officials recently present three calendar options to the school board, explains Oconee County Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Thorsland. “Each year we develop some options for a school calendar. We try to stay two years ahead, so we have one that is already published on the website, but we are starting to plan the calendar for 2015-16 at this time. We have shared it with a few of our advisory groups already and will continue to do that over the next month or two but we are seeking public input. This information will go out to the schools probably in January.” The three options have some similar breaks, adds Dr. Thorsland. “Over the last eight or nine years, I’ve learned that in Oconee County it seems like people are pretty particular about certain breaks on the school calendar. One is that they always like to have a three-day Thanksgiving break, so that is something that is on all three of the options. Another thing is that people like two full weeks at the Christmas break and then families usually like to have a weeklong spring break. So, all three of our calendar options have those breaks at those lengths but we do have some different options.” Dr. Thorsland gives the major differences between the three proposed school calendars. “For 2015-16, one option is to be out by Memorial Day, so the first option would have the final day of school on Thursday, May 26, but I will say that minimizes the breaks during the school year in order to get out that early, so it makes it a tough stretch in the spring. Our second option, the final day of school would be June 2, which is one week later and that is a calendar that is very similar to the calendar that we are in now, the 2013-14 school calendar. The final option is a Thursday start, usually when students start school after the summer break, if you start on a Monday it is really tough because they have been out of school for ten weeks. They start on a Monday and have to go five full days that first week, it is just a tough adjustments for students and faculty and staff, so the third option is a Thursday start where you go in, you get two days of school, have a weekend to recover and then hit the ground running that next Monday.” Public comment is being taken on the three options, concludes Dr. Thorsland. “The School Board ultimately sets the calendar and they don’t have to let the public decide, however, our School Board does collect information. So, we send these options out to the schools and each school’s faculty and staff gets one vote, each school’s school improvement council gets a vote and then the district office departments get one vote. So, we collect about 45 to 50 votes and we give that information to the School Board and almost certainly they would follow the will of the people, they usually approve the calendar that the people select. So, we do allow the people to choose through their school improvement council or through the faculty and staff votes.” After each school weighs in on the calendar options and votes are taken, Dr. Thorsland will present a final recommendation to the Oconee County School Board in March or April.