OSD Asks for Feedback on Proposed 2022-23 Calendars

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

The Oxford School District is considering two calendar options for the 2022-2023 school year with one option looking a bit different than a traditional school year.

The “traditional calendar” would have the 2022-2023 school year starting on Aug. 5 and ending May 19. Students and teachers would have a long weekend in October for fall break with schools closed on Monday, Oct. 10. Winter break would be from Dec. 19-Jan. 5 for students, with teachers returning Jan. 3 for two professional development days, and spring break would be March 13-17.

The proposed “flexible calendar” would have the school year starting on July 22 and ending May 31. There would be a two-week fall break from Sept. 26-Oct. 7 for students. Teachers would return on Oct. 7 for a professional development day.

Thanksgiving and Winter breaks would mostly be the same as the traditional calendar; however, students would return on Jan. 6 on the Flexible calendar with teachers returning Jan. 5 for one professional development day.

Spring break would be two weeks, from March 13-March 24 for students, with teachers returning March 24 for a professional development day. Students would be off for the summer from June 1-July 21.

The OSD stated on its website that the “flexible calendar” is not considered a “year-round school” schedule.

An email went out to parents Thursday asking for feedback on which calendar they preferred. While the feedback will be presented to the OSD Board of Trustees, it will be up to the Board to vote on and decide which calendar the district will follow in 2022-2023.

The extra week off in the fall and the spring would be called “intersession” weeks and parents can elect to send their child to school that week. The days will be half days and there will be teachers providing remediation and enrichment sessions during those days.

Comments on social media range from support for the flexible calendar, saying the extra breaks will provide students and teachers time to “reboot” and help prevent learning loss caused by the longer summer break.

Others called the flexible calendar “life-altering,” and that it will cause problems for students in athletics and AP classes.

Superintendent Bradley Roberson addressed some of the comments on the “Who did they get and what’s going on in the OSD?” Facebook page.

In his post, he did admit the “flexible calendar” posed “a problem for the AP classes in the spring due to losing five instructional days.

“The goal would be to provide AP boot camps during the intersession week so AP students do not miss instruction,” he wrote. “It is possible for AP students to actually gain instruction if they only have one AP class. They could stay with that particular teacher more than a 90-minute block of time.”

He said on-campus dual enrollment courses would follow the flexible calendar since OHS teachers teach those courses.

“If a student is taking a dual enrollment course at Northwest or Ole Miss, he/she would need to attend those classes during the OSD intersession,” he said.

Visit the OSD’s website for more information and to provide feedback on the proposed calendars.