Oskaloosa School Board Discusses Upcoming School Calendar
Oskaloosa Community School Administration
Oskaloosa Iowa – The Oskaloosa School Board met in open session on Monday evening, with the main point of discussion being the upcoming school year calendar.
The driving factor behind the calendar development is based upon Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s directive that schools start near the end of August. State law directs schools to start on the calendar week in which the 1st day of September falls, unless a waiver is granted by the Iowa Department of Education. These waivers have become commonplace. Waivers will now only be granted if a “significant negative educational impact” would fall upon the district.
“The old rubber stamp is basically gone,” said Reiter in Monday’s meeting.
The district is looking at starting on Monday, August 31st, with early out days to begin the school year.
Sports practices will start August 10, 2015, 3 weeks before school actually starts. The first football game of the year will be on the 28th of August.
As in the past, many Wednesdays will be early outs for professional development.
The first round of parent-teacher conferences will be October 22-23. The conferences in the spring may be split, with elementary hosting theirs two weeks before the secondary departments, due to the way the trimesters land within the calendar.
Winter break will begin with an early-out on December 23rd, for Christmas break, and last 11 days.
Reiter said that there is concern about school lasting until June. The way in which the Department of Education determines if a student has been to school enough is now measured in hours, not by the traditional day. This will be beneficial to the districts and students, allowing more flexibility for snow and other missed days. Students must be in class for 1080 hours per year.
If the calendar is approved, the final day of school could be May 26th of 2016.
The board tabled the calendar until their next meeting, to wait and see if the Iowa Legislature takes up the discussion of the school starting time frame.
Oskaloosa Superintendent Russ Reiter said the district was awarded a Teacher Leadership Grant which will funnel nearly $750,000 into the district. “Our district will be jumping right into trying to figure out all the little details,” Reiter said of the grant.
The grant will provide coaching for teachers and technology. This will allow the district to hire up to 8 additional people to work with staff on a daily basis. “It’s a great opportunity for our district,” said Reiter.
Reiter thanked all of the individuals who put in the effort to make the grant possible for the district.
