Revised Proposed 2020-2021 School Year Calendarwith Survey Results

May 14, 2019

David LyonDirector of Assessment and Accountability

• Governor signed a new bill into law in March allowing school divisions to begin school prior to Labor Day.

• The new law requires each local school board:

– to set the school calendar so that the first day students are required to attend school is no earlier than 14 days before Labor Day.

Exempts school divisions from this limitation if they started before Labor Day in 2018-2019 using the good cause waiver.

– to close each school in the school division from the Friday immediately preceding Labor Day through Labor Day if the school year starts before Labor Day.

New VA State Code

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• Steps completed to develop proposed 2020-2021 calendar– Surveyed staff twice

First survey to staff was shared from 1/30/19 – 2/15/19 to develop initial draft • Survey link emailed to 1,063 staff members• 435 staff members responded to the survey

Second survey sent after the proposed version was presented to the School Board• Survey shared from 3/27/19 – 4/10/19• Survey link emailed to 1,117 staff members• 310 staff members responded to the survey

– Community surveyed shared from 3/27/19 – 4/10/19 Survey was available in English and Spanish

• Link was emailed to 4,325 and delivered to 4,002 parents/guardians• 388 out of the 4,002 delivered emails responded to the survey

Shareable link was posted on the MCPSVA website and social media channels• 47 survey responses were collected via this opportunity

Proposed Calendar Development Summary

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• Academic Committee

– Met on 3/6/19 to review staff survey results and finalize a proposed 2020-2021 calendar.

– Proposed 2020-2021 calendar presented to the School Board on 3/26/19 for discussion and public comment.

– Met on 4/30/19 to review the community survey and staff’s second survey results and determine, if any, suggested revisions to the proposed calendar.

Proposed Calendar Development Summary

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2nd Staff Survey Results: Percentage of Staff Approving of Proposed Calendar

GroupTotal

ResponsesStrongly Approve

ApproveTotal

ApprovingApproval

Rate

Teacher 194 26 114 140 72%School Support Personnel 81 17 38 55 68%School Administrators 6 3 3 6 100%Central Office Personnel 29 6 17 23 79%Total 310 52 172 224 72%

72%68%

100%

79%

0%

10%

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40%

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60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Teacher School Support Personnel School Administrators Central Office Personnel

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Respondent Groups

Teacher School Support Personnel School Administrators Central Office Personnel

Table: Total Staff Survey Responses Approving of Calendar

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Staff Survey Comment/Suggestion Theme Analysis

Comment Themes% of All

Comments

% of RespondentsApproving of

Calendar

% of RespondentsDisapproving of

CalendarProf. Dev Days / Teacher Workdays

13% 4% 24%

Spring Break (Monday after)

12% 6% 15%

Prefer Later Start Date(Mix of post-Labor Day and only one week earlier)

11% 0.45% 28%

Align with PWCS(Childcare & holidays)

6% 1% 14%

Winter Break (Two Weeks Off)

6% 2% 12%

• 127 respondents submitted comments

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Community Survey Results: Percentage of Respondents Approving of Proposed Calendar

GroupTotal

ResponsesStrongly Approve

ApproveTotal

Approving%

ApprovingParent 406 106 194 300 74%Student 18 1 12 13 72%Community Member 11 5 2 7 64%Total 435 112 208 320 74%

74% 72%

64%

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20%

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100%

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Survey Responding Groups

Parent Student Community Member

Table: Total Survey Responses Approving of Calendar

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Community Survey Comment/Suggestion Theme Analysis

Comment Themes% of

All Comments

% of RespondentsApproving of

Calendar

% of RespondentsDisapproving of Calendar

Prefer Later Start Date 45% 2% 59%

Spring Break (Monday after) 5% 2% 1%Parent-Teacher Conference(Day w/o students)

4% 1% 2%

Winter Break (Two Weeks) 4% 2% 1%

• 155 respondents submitted comments

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RevisedProposed 2020-2021 School Calendar 5

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• Why do teachers have to report nine days before the students start? – Answer: The calendar must account for 193 assigned workdays for teachers. 180 of those days are with students

so 13 days must be assigned on non-instructional days. Since we are starting school prior to Labor Day, the goal is to provide teachers and students with two full months (June and July) of summer break. In order to reach that goal and provide the typical holidays everyone requests, the only location on the calendar to account for the balance of required assigned teacher workdays is in August.

• What are the benefits of starting before Labor Day and ending in May?– Answer: Starting the school year earlier allows MCPS to end the first semester when winter break starts in

December. The instructional benefit is students will not need to “reboot” and prepare to be assessed on information taught prior to the break in January. They are now able to return from winter break, start a new semester, and begin learning new content. The added benefit for high school students is it provides them a transcript with a 1st semester grade and GPA for college applications. Students in advanced placement (AP) tests are now longer at a disadvantage because of the AP testing dates. AP testing dates are set by College Board and traditionally our AP students had less days of instruction due to the post-Labor Day start. This proposed calendar levels the playing field for our AP students by providing commensurate instructional time when compared to their nation-wide peers. The same thing can be said about other college exams as the SAT and ACT. It also provides equitable opportunities for learning during the 2nd semester. Historically most of the closed days due to weather occur between Jan and Feb. By starting the school year earlier, we are able to assign more instructional days in the 2nd semester to accommodate for loss instruction time due to inclement weather.

• How will MCPS make this calendar work for students who participate in educational programs in PWCS?– Answer: The coordinators work closely with programs such as the Governor’s School, Nursing Program, and

JROTC, to ensure students are ready when the programs start. Coordinators provide students with materials and time to get a jump start on the content for those programs during the interim between the different start dates. In the spring, the PWCS programs are typically done by the end of May.

• Can we consolidate two “early release days” and replace them with one day off?– Answer: Early release days still count as full instructional days. They cannot be consolidated to add up to one full

day off for students and/or teachers.

• Why is the Friday before Labor Day a division closed day?– Answer: The new law requires a school division that starts prior to Labor Day to provide that Friday as a holiday.

FAQs

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Revised Proposed 2020-2021 School Year Calendarwith Survey Results

May 14, 2019

David LyonDirector of Assessment and Accountability