Welcome to our new web site!

To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.

During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.

School board approves 2020-21 calendar

School days will be 23 minutes longer to accommodate four-day schedule High school will move from eight to seven classes a day

Justin Addison
Posted 2/26/20

Students of the Fayette R-III school system will be in school 23 minutes longer on days school is in session starting with the fall 2020 semester. The Fayette R-III Board of Education approved the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

School board approves 2020-21 calendar

School days will be 23 minutes longer to accommodate four-day schedule High school will move from eight to seven classes a day

Posted

Students of the Fayette R-III school system will be in school 23 minutes longer on days school is in session starting with the fall 2020 semester. The Fayette R-III Board of Education approved the school year 2020-2021 calendar at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, February 19.

The board in November voted 4-2 to transition the district to a four-day school week starting next school year. The change will mean that students are in school longer on school days. Currently, school starts at 7:55 a.m. and dismisses at 3:12 p.m. Starting in the fall, school will begin at 7:50 a.m. and dismiss at 3:30 p.m.

Under the new calendar, classes will not be held on Mondays except for two dates leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Mondays may also be used to makeup snow days, and for teacher professional development days. Additionally, many federal holidays are observed on Mondays.

School will begin later next year. A law passed by the state legislature aimed at protecting summer tourism, specifically the Missouri State Fair, makes it illegal for schools to begin their fall semesters more than 14 days prior to the first Monday of September. The earliest school may start in 2020 will be Monday, August 24. Fayette will begin classes on Tuesday, August 25. School will be in session for 152 days.

The move to a four-day week was certainly controversial and created a sharp divide within the community. The chief concern for those against the transition is a lack of daycare for elementary-aged children. Parents will now need to secure daycare on Mondays.  District Superintendent Jill Wiseman, however, has proposed opening up the school on Mondays as a quasi-daycare, if funding can be secured. She explained to the board Wednesday that she intends to apply for a School Age Community Grant fund the Monday program, as well as after-school programs during the regular school week. “That Grant would allow for us to provide an after school program, and perhaps a Monday care program once we transition to the four-day school week,” she said.

The board gave unanimous approval to an enhanced summer school program in 2021. Summer school for 2020 will remain as it has recently, limited only to students who need interventions or credit recovery. Classes will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Fridays. A driver’s education course will again be offered.

However, the district in 2021 will return to a more vibrant summer school program. The 16-day program will have longer days and feature student transportation and meal service. It will be open to any student who wishes to attend, not just those in need of extra academic instruction.

The high school will change its daily schedule next year from eight-hour days to seven-hour days, in order to create slightly longer class times. This change will mean the credit requirements will be different. Seniors graduating in May of 2020 must have earned 28 credits. Next year, graduating seniors will be required to have 27 credits. Credit requirements will decline by one each year for the following three years to reflect the change for classes which have already started high school until the requisite drops to 24.

A computer science course will be added to the high school curriculum next year. Additionally, some seniors may be able to earn class credit for internships held off campus. “If they know a program that they are interested in pursuing after graduation, it's something they can get some experience in and can get credit at the same time,” Wiseman said.

Food Service Director Paula Volkmann reported to the the board that the program is serving 551 more breakfast meals this year than this time last year, and 1,039 meals for lunch. The program is also under budget. She hopes to add a part-time work study student as a dishwasher next year. “I have an amazing staff. I couldn't be happier,” Volkmann said.

The district will also receive another half slab of beef from the MoBeef for MoKids program, a joint program of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, the Missouri Beef Industry Council, and Opaa Food Service. It is designed to help subsidize Missouri beef producers and increase the amount of Missouri-raised beef on school lunch menus. 

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be March 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the central office conference room. Meetings are open and the public is invited.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here