By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Public school students in Beaufort are going to be starting school a little earlier than usual over the next two school years.
After seeking input from community members, educators and parents, the Beaufort County School District (BCSD) Board of Education voted on the calendars for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years during their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
The Board of Education voted to approve the motion regarding the calendars with only one board member, William Smith, voting against.
This is the first time that the school district has approved and released the calendars for two consecutive years at once.
“It allows us to stay ahead of it and I think it provides families some long planning within two years,” said BCSD Superintendent Frank Rodriguez.
According to the chosen calendars, 2024-2025 will begin on Aug. 7 with the last day of school being on May 29.
The school year will begin a littler earlier for teachers, with them expected back on July 31.
Thanksgiving break will run from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1, Winter Break will run from Dec. 23 to Jan. 8 and Spring Break will run from April 14 to April 18.
Additionally, schools will be closed for Labor Day, Election Day, Veteran’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Good Friday and Memorial Day.
Teacher workdays are scheduled for July 31 through Aug. 6, Jan. 7, Feb. 14 and May 30 through 3.
The students will have three half days – Oct. 9, Feb. 13 and March 14.
BCSD posted a poll at the end of January asking for input from the community about five potential calendar options for the next two school years.
When creating the potential calendars, requests from parents, students and school district employees were taken into consideration, such as longer breaks, graduation days to align with teacher development days and requests for summer vacation learning opportunities.
Currently the school district is operation on an 85/95 split, with the first semester lasting for 85 days and the second lasting for 95 days.
All but one of the new calendars suggested changing to a 90/90 split, meaning both semesters would have 90 days of instructional days.
According to BCSD Chief Instructional Services Officer Mary Stratos, 2,024 people participated in the poll and chose the second calendar for both the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 with more than 40 percent of the votes.
While the specific dates for the calendars will vary, the school years follow the same layout and pattern.
Delayna Earley formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
