Kanawha County public school administrators unveiled Thursday night four calendar proposals for next school year that the public can vote on starting, according to plans, around 5 to 6 a.m. Friday and continuing through Oct. 15.
"There's so many people out there who think that we're not listening to them, and this is a way for us to listen to everybody," Kanawha school board President Jim Crawford said after Thursday night's board meeting. "I can remember we've done [polls on calendars] in the past, and most of the time we went with what the people wanted.
"And I'm not saying that we're going to do that now, but there's a good chance that will happen."
Next school year's calendar has become a more publicized issue recently, after the Gazette-Mail reported Kanawha had the earliest start date for public schools in West Virginia this year, and after flood-affected schools had to open two days late, and after a string of heating, ventilation and air conditioning problems caused multiple missed school days.
A majority of the board previously had agreed to keep the start date of school for students in early August for several years - board members said it was for consistency's sake.
Crawford said the board will have the ultimate authority on which 2017-18 calendar proposal to choose, regardless of the number of votes for each, but he said the board will take the votes into account. People can vote at the school system's website, kcs.kana.k12.wv.us.
Kanawha schools Superintendent Ron Duerring said the board could have a discussion on the calendar at its Oct. 4 meeting, and the planned final board vote will be Oct. 20.
The proposals include one with an Aug. 7 start date for students - a day earlier than this school year's calendar - one with an Aug. 14 student start date, one with an Aug. 21 student start date and one with a Sept. 5 student start date.
Here are brief descriptions of each calendar - more information will be available on the school system's website, and calendars, after approval, can change in places if days have to be made up due to snow and other cancellations:
n Aug. 7 student start date - First day for teachers Aug. 1; one week off around Thanksgiving; first semester ends Dec. 21; six days off around Christmas on Dec. 22 and Dec. 25-29; seven days off for spring break on March 23, March 26-30 and April 2; last day for students May 17; employee preparation day for closing schools May 29.
n Aug. 14 student start date - First day for teachers Aug. 8; one week off around Thanksgiving; first semester ends Dec. 22; five days off around Christmas on Dec. 25-29; seven days off for spring break on March 29-30 and April 2-6; last day for students May 23; employee prep day for closing schools May 30.
n Aug. 21 student start date - First day for teachers Aug. 15; two days off for Thanksgiving; first semester ends Dec. 22; five days off around Christmas on Dec. 25-29; six days off for spring break on March 26-30 and April 2; last day for students May 25; employee prep day for closing schools June 1.
n Sept. 5 student start date - First day for teachers Aug. 29; two days off for Thanksgiving; five days off around Christmas on Dec. 25-29; first semester ends Jan. 23; two days off for spring break on March 30 and April 2, which is Good Friday, and the day after Easter; last day for students June 4; employee prep day for closing schools June 12.
Duerring said he came up with the four proposals based on the myriad state regulations constricting how school systems design their calendars, and based on wanting to space the start of school for students one week apart between each proposal.
Tiffany Graley, a parent in the school system, questioned why the proposals skipped Aug. 28 - the Monday between Aug. 21 and Sept. 5 - as a possible start date for students. Elaine Gayton, the school system's director of professional development, said she wasn't asked to develop such a proposal.
Duerring didn't provide the Gazette-Mail information on the proposals in advance of the meeting and left shortly after the meeting adjourned Thursday night.
Zack Hanshaw, the school system's webmaster, said those wanting to vote will have to identify themselves as being in one of four categories and provide additional info.
If you're a student, you'll need to enter your student identification number; if you're an employee, you'll have to enter your 939 identification number; if you're a parent, you'll have to input your first and last names, address, email address and where your children attend school; and if you're a community member, you'll have to input the same information except you'll provide the high school in your community's attendance area rather than where your children attend school.
Hanshaw said duplicate votes and "bogus entries" will be eliminated.
Crawford did note that, due to what he said are legal requirements regarding pay periods, 240-day contract or less employees should know that the two calendars with later student start dates would cause them to miss a pay period at the start of next school year.
He said they'd still be paid their same salaries next school year, and the school system will even offer to set aside money from their paychecks this school year to still pay them on Aug. 25 of next school year if individual workers volunteer for the deferred payment.
But Dinah Adkins, co-president of the Kanawha County Education Association teachers union, said "when the calendar was moved back to the early August date, evidently, the county was able to cover that change and arrange funds so employees did not have an issue."
"And I hope that we'll have the best options for employees, so they can truly vote on this as a calendar, and not a concern about their pay," Adkins said.
She also said she's concerned with how people without internet access will be able to vote. She said her union continues to hear complaints about the early August calendar start date, which has been in effect the past few school years. But even with a possible later start date next school year, she noted the county's heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems remain a problem.
Reach Ryan Quinn at
ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn,
304-348-1254 or follow
@RyanEQuinn on Twitter.