The Fayette R-III Board of Education gave unanimous approval to the district-wide calendar for the 2022-23 school year. The calendar was presented at the board’s regular meeting on Wednesday, February 16. 

The district will once again be on a four-day school week schedule. The first day of classes will be on Tuesday, August 23. The last day of classes is planned for May 23, 2023, with an early release at 12:03 p.m.

The calendar was approved by Superintendent Jill Wiseman’s advisory committee which circulated the calendar among staff for suggestions before making its recommendation. 

Three days are built into the calendar as weather makeup days. The district can also pivot to virtual instruction during snow days. Seven Mondays from December through March have been marked as potential makeup days should the district close for more than three snow days.

The calendar also includes summer school which will run four days a week from June 1 through June 23, 2023.

During last week’s meeting, the board also heard from Paula Volkmann, the district’s food service director, who reported that she and her staff have served around 10,000 more meals so far this year than last year.

“We’ve had a really good year,” she said. “I knew our numbers were climbing, but I didn’t know they were climbing that far.”

Volkmann said that she has three student workers helping out, and may need to hire an additional dishwasher for next year in the event that the district continues to serve meals at such a high volume. 

The USDA made school meals free for all students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not yet known if that will continue again next school year. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to make that announcement in April.

Volkmann said that food shortages are not as much of an issue this year, although prices have increased due to record inflation. “I’m getting price increases weekly from my vendors,” she said. Despite the price hikes, the food service department is not running at a deficit.

In other business at last week’s meeting, the board approved a course description book for the high school. 

Members also approved a 16-day summer school program to run from May 31 until June 24, 2022. Elementary summer school will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. Middle and high school summer school programs will run from 8 a.m. until noon. Breakfast, lunch, and transportation will be provided.

The board learned that the recent Pink Out Cancer Awareness event held on December 21 raised $8,400. Half of the money will go to FHS senior Will Beaman who is battling leukemia. The other half will go to the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center’s Mam Van which serves Howard County.

The Board of Education meets regularly at 6:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday every month except for July. Meetings were recently moved back to the district’s administration building. Meetings are open and the public is invited.