SPS calendar for next school year includes full week off for Thanksgiving

Enough Springfield parents liked their kids having a full week off for Thanksgiving this year that the district will offer the longer break again in 2023.

The school board voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve the calendar for the 2023-24 year.

Bret Range, executive director of student and school services, said a calendar committee reviewed options and two choices were presented to parents at the urging of Superintendent Grenita Lathan.

"We have never done that before. We have never put a calendar out to the community, to families, to say 'Which one do you want?'" he said.

The Springfield school board approved a calendar for the 2023-24 year on Tuesday.
The Springfield school board approved a calendar for the 2023-24 year on Tuesday.

In late November, the district surveyed families and employees for their preference on having a full week off during Thanksgiving or a slightly longer winter break.

In all, 4,406 individuals responded and 54% chose the longer Thanksgiving break.

Parents and employees said, in the survey, that they valued the "extra family time" and appreciated getting to weigh in on the decision.

Top comments included that it was "much needed decompression time," and that the "week off for Thanksgiving allows families time to travel and be with out-of-town relatives. It (also) gives a really nice break to what can be a very long October to December in the education realm."

Another responded: "Winter break is important, too, but it's already longer."

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Questions about the calendar process, length of breaks

At the start of the meeting, Laura Mullins, president of the Springfield National Education Association, said a "well-rounded" calendar committee reviewed options and preferred a longer winter break. That calendar option called for two additional days off in January.

"Normally, this would have been the end but because executive leadership felt differently" the district presented the committee's top pick, and a less popular option, to parents, she said.

Board vice president Maryam Mohammadkhani asked why the length of winter break has shortened over the years and why the spring semester is longer than the fall.

John Mulford, deputy superintendent of operations, said a state law passed a few years ago pushed the start of the school year to late August. He said that, along with a desire to wrap up the fall semester in December not January, mirroring the college schedule, makes it slightly shorter.

There are 80 days of class in the fall semester and 92 in the spring semester.

"In the old days, kids came back from Christmas break and had to finish up a week's worth of curriculum, take finals and then switch classes in our four-block (high) schools and that was a very difficult process," said board president Denise Fredrick. "Teachers asked, at that time, can we please finish first semester before they go on Christmas break and that was the desire of many parents and children."

Fredrick added: "When our high schoolers come back from (winter) break, they're ready to start their new semester."

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Other holidays, key dates in the 2023-24 SPS calendar

District officials said 2022 was the first year the district extended the Thanksgiving break to an entire week and then surveyed parents and employees on their preferences for next year.

The proposed calendar was developed by a work team of 32 people and includes 1,118 hours of instruction and 172 instructional days. The minimum number of hours required by the state is 1,044.

Here are key dates for the 2023-24 year:

  • Tuesday, Aug. 22 − First day of class

  • Oct. 23-Nov. 3 − Window for parent-teacher conferences

  • Tuesday, Nov. 7 − No school on election day

  • Nov. 20-24 − Thanksgiving break

  • Monday, Dec. 25 to Wednesday, Jan. 3 − Winter break

  • March 11-15 − Spring break

  • Thursday, May 23 − Final day of school

The calendars at four elementary schools — Boyd, Field, Rountree and Robberson — have variations due to special programming. However, most key dates coincide with the district calendar.

In Springfield, the district works closely with Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical Community College, Evangel University and Drury University to have the same spring break and other similarities in schedules.

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SPS calendar for next year includes full week off for Thanksgiving