Murphy – The 2020-21 school year will begin earlier and include flexible remote learning days after the Cherokee County Board of Education approved the school calendar with state-mandated adjustments Thursday night.
Monday, Aug. 17, is the state-mandated first day of school, five days earlier than the typical start. While the district may still use the 1,025 hour model for the school calendar, the district must have five more days of instruction. That first week is accounting for those days, and evens out the days in each semester.
The state also required that districts provide for five remote learning days. The calendar places those days in mid-March, but those days are flexible for use.
The board agreed that if Superintendent Jeana Conley chooses to use one of those remote learning days on what would be an inclement weather day, she may. The remote learning days were placed in the second half of the year since that is when days are typically lost for school closure.
The last day of school is scheduled to be Friday, May 28. Students will attend school for 179 days. There are 215 total calendar days, including teacher work days.
In her report later in the evening,
Conley informed the board that school is going to look different in the fall. She said there’s nothing solid yet, and there are still a lot of questions. She added the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention guidelines for schools are just that – guidelines, not laws.
In talking with other western county superintendents, Conley said there is a desire for neighboring counties to be following the same practices when schools reopen. She also plans to survey every parent in the district to learn how they feel about sending their children back to school in the fall.
School calendar flexible with some remote learning days for 2020-21
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