Charleston Co. School Board set to finalize 2023-24 calendar

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County School District Board will meet Tuesday night to consider feedback before setting its academic calendar for the next school year.

The board will go over feedback from a survey the district recently sent to 70 teachers, principals and school administrators. The results of the discussion will affect school start dates, holidays and early-release days.

The survey showed 47 percent voted to start the school year on a Wednesday. The results also showed a mixed response of requests for early release days being either in the middle or the end of the week.

Charleston County School District Board member Ed Kelley said having the last day of the quarter be a few weeks after Christmas break has raised concerns for parents.

When students return to school after the break they are expected to take final exams after a number of weeks off, he said. But the biggest concern parents have expressed through emails, he said, centered on half days that fall in the middle of the week, some of which are not on holidays but are planning days for teachers.

“A lot of folks are unhappy with the midweek half days especially working parents because that obviously throws off an entire schedule,” Kelley said. “Interferes with pickup routines and daycares. You know, if you have one kid that’s in preschool half a day, you know, it just… you never know with the family schedule.”

Kelley said the Charleston County School Board has to approve putting two academic calendars forward for public feedback.

He also said legal requirements factor in when choosing these dates and a new state law that just passed requires an additional 30-minute break for teachers which interferes with instructional time. The board will also discuss the current English language elementary curriculum and will share feedback from teachers and the community.

The meeting begins at the district’s headquarters, located at 75 Calhoun Street, at 5:15 p.m.

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