June 26, 2024 – The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education heard an update on the calendar process for the 2025-26 school year during their meeting on Tuesday night.
Back in May, district officials presented two options for potential student and staff calendars that were created with the input of a committee comprised of department personnel from Human Resources, Student Services, Technology, Accountability, Operations, and more, as well as with parents, teachers, TAs, and principals from all three grade spans. Both options run from August 13 to May 21 and contain 215 paid days for 10-month staff, as well as a four-day fall break, a five-day thanksgiving break, and a weeklong spring break. However, they vary slightly in the distribution of staff workdays, the total number of student days, and the dates of spring break and winter break.
A survey about which option parents, staff, students, and teachers preferred was open from May 15 through May 24 this spring, and the results showed a narrow lead across all demographics for Option A, which has 175 student days instead of 176. However, survey conductors received only about half as many responses as they did for the previous year’s iteration, so staff suggested tabling the matter until later in the 2024-25 school year. Chief Operations Officer Lauren Richards believes that once the first year of the district’s earlier schedule is underway, the district will be able to further engage stakeholders and get a more accurate picture of what they want for the future.
“Let’s get the new early calendar started, let’s get into the groove, and then we will look to publish this survey again,” Richards said. “We’ll work to get some great feedback from all of the different stakeholder groups and bring some better data back to you.”
Also on the board’s agenda for the evening were:
- - Recognition of Carver High School’s esports team as this year’s VESL state champions
- - Review of the number of vacant positions ahead of the start of the 2024-25 school year
- - Discussion and subsequent approval of the 2024-26 CTE local application, appropriation of the Magnet Schools Assistant Program Grant, replacement of the floor at the West Forsyth High School auxiliary gym, and a contract with Instructional Empowerment
- - Approval of contracts for technology hardware and software renewals, EC related itinerant services and nursing, food and beverage services provided by Pepsi, multilingual learning software from Ellevation, and several other action items
The Board of Education will take a break in July and will hold their next meeting on Tuesday, August 13.