The School District Academic Calendar Has Changed

The North Marion School Board on Monday approved a request to adjust the Academic Calendar to change an instructional day to a Professional Development Day focusing on curriculum (January 3, 2022). 

“Teachers and IAs and everyone are working super, super hard,” K–5 Literacy Coach Page Gianella said at the Monday School Board meeting. “There is just not enough time to do what they need to do, so thank you to the administrators for recognizing that.”

Director of Teaching and Learning Cherie Stroud presented to the School Board during the Monday meeting in support of the calendar change, saying that the pandemic had impacted staff in several ways:

• The reality of student/staff quarantine or isolation has increased staff workload;
• There is a statewide staffing and substitute shortage, and the School District is unable to hire a sufficient number of substitutes or support staff to meet the need, placing an additional burden on current licensed staff;
• Licensed staff in the middle and high schools are working during their prep periods in order to provide class coverage in each school; and
• Additional training to support both new and experienced teachers is a necessity for serving our children who are in quarantine.

The collaborative process to select a date involved the work of staff, the School Board, parents and the wider community. The effort began with Stroud proposing adding Nov. 12 as the additional day. The North Marion School Board members asked local childcare providers how that might impact their ability to provide care if there was no school for students that day.

After hearing the childcare providers’ concerns about the date, the School Board proposed Nov. 29, but that fell on finals week at the High School. Eventually, Cherie Stroud recommended January 3, 2022, and now, that date’s officially set.