Calendar to be approved in December

Opening day for the 2018-2019 school year in the Boyle County School district could be Aug. 15, based on a draft proposed to the Board of Education Thursday night.

Assistant Superintendent and Director of Pupil Personnel Chris Holderman explained that the 2018-2019 draft calendar is similar to this year’s. While students start on Aug. 15, teachers have four professional development days built in to the calendar before that — Aug. 3, 6, 7 and 8 — with two staff development days — Aug. 9 and 10 — and opening day for staff on Aug. 13; Aug. 14 is a holiday for everyone.

The first break for students according to the draft will be Sept. 3, Labor Day, and fall break is planned for Oct. 8-12. A staff development day is planned for Nov. 5, which will be a day off for students. Thanksgiving will fall Nov. 21-23.

The winter break posed a bigger discussion for the committee, Holderman said.

“It’s similar to this year, where we could debate where you’re off in the middle of the week — off on Wednesday and go back on a Wednesday. The committee looked at that and at surveys, too,” he said.

Instead, it was settled to have two full weeks, with the last day of school being on Dec. 21 and the break officially being Dec. 24 to Jan. 4, with Monday, Jan. 7 planned as a staff development day.

“It’s a little longer break for the kids during Christmas,” Holderman said. “Everything else is pretty much the same.”

Students are off Jan. 21, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Feb. 18; and March 15, a staff development day. Spring break is April 1-5, which Holderman said was “typical.”

The last day scheduled for students is May 22, with May 23 as a closing day for teachers. There is room for make-up days, Holderman said.

The calendar was determined by a committee, per KRS 158.070, which was enacted earlier this year. The committee must consist of a principal, a board of education member, two parents, one elementary school teacher, one middle or high school teacher, two classified employees and two community member.

“We met last week and kind of started from scratch from what we usually do from prior years,” Holderman said.

There are 172 instructional days, what the district typically shoots for, he said.

The board is expected to approve the calendar at the December board meeting.

Board members also welcomed Kate Peterson, who was superintendent for a day, and spent all day Thursday shadowing Superintendent Mike LaFavers.