LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Jefferson County Public Schools committee has voted against recommending changes to the upcoming school year as part of the district’s efforts to help students who fell behind academically while learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The JCPS Calendar Committee voted unanimously Monday against recommending revisions to the district’s 2021-22 school calendar. Representatives of teachers and support staff said their members overwhelmingly rejected the idea to add instructional days next year in response to surveys.
Many respondents to the Jefferson County Teacher’s Association survey on the subject, which drew about 1,800 responses, rejected the idea of learning loss because all students missed academic time during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Fairdale High School teacher Cassie Lyles.
About 53% of respondents strongly opposed adding days to next year’s school calendar, and 22% were generally against the plan, she said.
“I don't think it's good for their mental health on top of all of the difficulties we've experienced over the past year, now we're going to tell them you're behind so you need more time,” Lyles said. “The biggest other comment would have been that this is putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.”
About 76% of support personnel were strongly opposed to adding dates to the 2021-22 school calendar, according to Laura Lear with the Jefferson County Association of Educational Support Personnel.
Renee Murphy, head of communications and community relations for JCPS, said the district will review feedback from Monday's committee meeting and "continue discussions about how best to support children."
"It is important to us to explore opportunities for additional instructional time for students," she said in a statement Tuesday.
A proposal discussed Monday by the JCPS Calendar Committee would have extended the 2021-22 school year by a day and transitioning three dates — Jan. 3, March 7 and April 1 of 2022 — to instructional days. Students in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, sixth grade and ninth grade would also start the school year a day earlier under that proposal.
Jimmy Adams, head of human resources for JCPS, said extending the school year would cost about $4.5 million per day and that the district planned to fund such changes with federal stimulus money.
Extending the school calendar, Adams said, “is a very small piece of a much larger plan” to help students who struggled academically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio, who also hoped to add instructional days to the 2022-23 school calendar with federal stimulus dollars, planned to propose changes to the 2021-22 academic calendar during a May 4 school board meeting, Adams said.
Recommendations from the JCPS Calendar Committee are not binding, meaning the school board can revise school calendars regardless of the panel's stance.
Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
