Board of Education Wrap-Up

The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education voted to make up inclement weather days on May 21-23 during their meeting on Tuesday night.

In order to meet the state’s requirement of 1,025 instructional hours in the school year, the district needs to make up some of the time lost to inclement weather days this month. March 7 and April 21 had already been chosen as make-up days, but that left the several hours short. To remedy this, the board members proposed two options – either adding several make-up days on to the end of the school year, or lengthening the school day by 15 minutes for the rest of the school year.

The district put out a survey of parents and staff members last week requesting their preferences between the options. The survey got 12,138 over the course of three days, and the result was a statistical tie. However, the survey did not solicit student responses, and administrators said that in conversations with students, they overwhelmingly preferred the extra days so that their schedules with sports, jobs, and other after-school activities wouldn’t be compromised.

“We’ve gotten some great emails from students, and all the students that have emailed have said not to add the 15 minutes,” Superintendent Tricia McManus said. “All the students that have emailed have talked about work and after-school things and have said not to add the 15 minutes.”

The board members ultimately voted 8-1 in favor of making up days on May 21-23. End-of-year testing, reteaching, and retesting windows will be slightly modified to accommodate this decision, but graduation dates will remain the same.

Also on the board’s agenda for the evening were:

  • -       A flute solo by Athena Perez from Reagan High School

  • -       Recognitions for National Board Certified Teachers and Kelly Carr from Reagan High School as a Teaching Fellows Scholarship Recipient

  • -       Acknowledgment of National School Counseling Week, National Mentoring Month, and Board of Education Appreciation Month

  • -       Updates on WS/FCS R.I.D.E.S. bus expectations, OPENGATE metal detection systems, and the 2025-26 academic calendar

  • -       Rejection of a proposed policy change regarding drug testing for prospective employees

  • -       Approval for renaming the softball scoreboard at Glenn High School after Barbara Stanley Vulcano, amendments to the Early and Middle College academic calendar for 2025-26, and policy changes regarding school sponsored extra class activities and early graduations

The Board of Education will meet again on Tuesday, February 11 at 6:30 pm.