Clinton schools adopt modified calendar with July start date

By Taylor McKay Hathorn

The Clinton Public School District’s (CPSD) Board of Trustees voted 4-0 (with a reduced vote count due to Board Member Felicia Gavin’s absence at the January meeting) to accept a modified calendar for the 2023-2024 school year. The new calendar will see Clinton students return to school on July 24, 2023, and spend nine weeks in the classroom before arriving at their first two-week break, which will begin on September 25, 2023. During the second week of the break, each campus will host “ArrowSession,” which is intended to be a time for targeted remediation for struggling students.

The pattern of nine weeks of class being punctuated by a two-week break/intercession will be repeated throughout the school year until students begin their summer break on May 27, 2024. The students will still meet the 180-day threshold mandated by the Mississippi Department of Education and will still have sporadic single days off, including Labor Day, MLK Day, President’s Day, and Good Friday.

In the event of inclement weather, the school district will still be required to meet that 180-day threshold unless a state of emergency is declared. In an interview with The Clinton Courier, Superintendent of Education Dr. Andy Schoggin said that the district was currently thinking through its make-up day possibilities in the event of such unforeseen circumstances.
“There are opportunities not to take away single-day holidays,” Schoggin said. “We will get those [180] days while protecting our instructional integrity.”

The idea of a modified school calendar was first proposed in a public forum at the October 2022 meeting of the CPSD Board of Trustees, when Schoggin put forth the idea during his monthly report to the Board. Schoggin stated the idea had actually originated earlier that month in conversations he had with his advisory committee, which is composed of a teacher from every campus. The group meets monthly with Schoggin, and, each October, the group is tasked with helping to select the calendar that will be used during the next academic year.

“This year, there was a discussion of traditional calendars, but there was also talk about a change. There was interest there,” Schoggin said of his initial meeting with his advisory committee. “So, we met again the next week, and they developed two options [of a modified calendar].”

Schoggin then brought those proposed calendars to the Board and tasked the Board with soliciting opinions from community stakeholders. Schoggin said the District, too, surveyed its own stakeholders, polling its teachers and parents. Schoggin said that eighty-three percent of teachers responded favorably to the change. The parental response was still favorable, but with a lower threshold, with seventy percent of parents approving of the measure.

Some parents took to Facebook to question why they had not been informed directly of the changes being considered.
On the Breaking News: Clinton, MS page, Missy McDowell, who commented that she has a child at Northside [Elementary School], wrote, “I was never asked or even a part of a vote…I read every newsletter from our school, and I only knew or heard of this via Facebook…. my husband and I both just did a search in our emails, I actually file them and don’t delete them, and we haven’t found an email on it.”

CPSD Public Information Officer Robert Chapman responded in a Facebook comment that the survey “was sent to parents and guardians through SchoolStatus – the same way we send emergency notifications.”

Although some parents voiced concern that they had not received the survey, Schoggin said that, as far as he was aware, all parents had the opportunity to respond, though just fifteen percent did.

“I try to look at [that statistic] in terms of local elections,” Schoggin said of the low survey response. “The most recent election in Clinton was for Ward 3 Alderman, and fourteen to fifteen percent of eligible voters participated in that election, so [the District survey] lines up with civic participation in the area.”

Parents who received the survey noted that it was sent by a text message sent to their mobile phone on December 9, 2022, with responses required by December 16, 2022. The text message read: “Dear Parents and Guardians, We are asking for your input and feedback in regard to the attached Draft Calendar.” The message included a link to a short informational video of Schoggin explaining the calendar and a link to a survey.

Schoggin acknowledged that he “would have liked to have had more” parental respondents, but still indicated that the seventy percent of positive responses that were returned “was still a strong percentage.”

Chatter about adopting a modified school calendar is happening in the current state legislative session, too, as Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann has announced plans to introduce legislation that will incentivize school districts that utilize such calendars. The measure was also taken up in the 2022 legislative session but lost traction before coming to a floor vote.
Schoggin said that the Legislature’s renewed interest in incentivizing districts with a modified calendar – like Petal in the south and Corinth in the north – did not play a role in the District’s decision to adopt the modified calendar for the upcoming school year. Clinton parents who have experienced the modified calendar in such school districts also weighed in on the Board’s decision, with parent Sara Beth Rowland commenting on The Clinton Courier’s Facebook page, “We LOVED it when we were in Corinth and sad that we had to let it go once we moved to Clinton. It helps with teacher/children burnout, and those who require intercession are normally provided with that option during the breaks.”

“I think [Hosemann] has seen some things that are done during the intercession weeks, so he sees the value in using your time differently,” Schoggin said of the Senate leader’s support of the measure. “But that wasn’t part of the discussion in our district. I did talk to teachers about the fact that it was being discussed, but more as a legislative update.”

The focus on the intercession weeks (called “ArrowSession” on district calendars) did play a major role in internal discussions, though, as Schoggin cited Brown University research that claims that high-dosage tutoring focused on known skill deficits often returns accelerated growth. When voting for the calendar changes, teachers were given the opportunity to opt-in to overseeing and mediating that high-dosage tutoring during intercession weeks in exchange for additional compensation.

“There was a great amount of response to one or both weeks, but some teachers wanted the time away,” Schoggin said. “It speaks to the caliber of teachers we have here. They see the opportunity to work with students they see on a daily basis in a different way.”

Schoggin hopes that teachers who elect to take advantage of the possibility of additional time away throughout the year – whether during all or some of the ArrowSession weeks – will see a reduction in burnout, as a 2022 Gallup poll found that K-12 teachers reported the highest amount of burnout among any profession in the post-COVID United States.

“When one out of two teachers have that feeling, the question is, ‘What do we control that can alleviate that?’” Schoggin remarked. Although teachers will still be contractually obligated to work 187 days during the school year, the breaks will be distributed differently, allowing teachers to see more of their “days off” during the fall and spring semesters.

Vicki Ramsay, a teacher at Clinton Junior High School, echoed Schoggin’s hopes that those intercession weeks will prove helpful for teachers who elect to opt-in or opt-out, commenting on a Facebook post made by The Clinton Courier following the CPSD Board’s October 2022 Board meeting, “I have taught in a district that did this in Chicago, and I loved it!” wrote Ramsay. “As a teacher, the breaks were so important. Through the school year, teachers are planning, researching, grading, mentoring, and so much more outside of the actual school hours. ‘Burn out’ in teachers is a very real issue. So being able to step back from the classroom for two weeks allows teachers time to continue this insanely rigorous job.”

Parents have voiced concerns about the reduction in cohesive time off during what was previously “summer break,” as some students have historically used the time for internships and other job- and collegiate-preparation activities.
Schoggin noted that students would still have eight straight weeks off each summer.

“Internships are typically not that long,” he said. “We’re hopeful, too, that they can have different experiences like those during the school year. It’s just trying to use our time differently.”

The school district will also be able to use their time slightly differently in regard to athletic activities, though the District will still be required to follow all guidelines set forth by the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA), which is headquartered in Clinton. At the present, the MHSAA allows sports teams to practice during a designated activity period during the school year (no matter when that school year begins or ends), though they are still prevented from hosting after-school practices unless they fall during the state-wide window that is sanctioned by the MHSAA.

Before voting on the measure, CPSD Board members also voiced concerns about the reduced summer break, as Board members observed that many parents had already approached them about previously-planned vacations during the last two weeks of what would have still been “summer break” on previous calendars.

On The Clinton Courier’s Facebook page, Lauren Jane Parry also commented, “Plans have already been made for the summer. Deposits have been paid. Family trips organized. This should have been accepted, if accepted at all, for 2024-2025 school year.”

The Clinton Public School District Board of Trustees echoed her remark before casting their vote. Schoggin noted at the meeting that this was not a new problem for the district, as the District has traditionally struggled with managing students’ time away from the classroom if family vacations did not line up with the district calendar.

In a statement released in response to being asked how absences for already-scheduled vacations would be handled, the District said, “As in previous years, parents will need to contact their student’s school principal to discuss arrangements.”
Despite this concern, though, all four present Board members ultimately agreed that their conversations with parents had been “overwhelmingly positive” and that they felt comfortable approving the measure.

The Board’s decision will take effect with the coming school year.

Click to view file: CPSD School Calendar 23 24