Students will spend two additional days in Polk County classrooms next school year. Polk County Board of Education members unanimously approved the addition of two days – Jan. 2 and April 30 – to the calendar for instructional purposes.
The days were previously allotted for weather days.
A state mandate, approved this year, increased the number of instructional days from 180 to 185, but left room for school systems to take advantage of a one-year waiver.
The exception allowed boards to waive some or all of the additional five days so long as the system used them for professional development. The trick, Polk County Superintendent Bill Miller said, was that each day had to be added between Aug. 25 and June 10. Individual school boards could not begin their year early or end their year late.
“You could look at this calendar seven different ways to try and put in five more days and you would essentially have no days left for adverse weather,” said board chairman Geoffrey Tennant.
Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, all systems must add five additional instruction days within the same timeframe.
Board member Rick Colvin encouraged “easing students and parents into the idea.”
Member Lucinda Allen made the motion to add just two days for the next year.
“I think if we weren’t planning to use all five of these days for staff development then we should use some for student instruction,” Allen said.
Miller suggested the addition of Jan. 2 and April 30 because they were both Mondays, which he felt could often be difficult days for parents who work to find childcare.