<b>From staff reports</b>

The Beaufort County Board of Education has approved two possible starting dates for the next school year – August 10 if the State Board of Education can be convinced to waive a key state calendar requirement for Beaufort County, and August 17 if the State Board says no to that waiver request.

Current state law mandates that no South Carolina public school district can begin classes prior to the third Monday in August, which this year is August 17. But the Beaufort County Board of Education plans to ask the State Board to waive that requirement so the school district can implement local curriculum innovations. The hope is that the waiver request could be resolved next month.

Starting Beaufort County’s school year on August 10 would allow five additional days of classroom instruction – and three potential weather make-up days – prior to winter break.

Both potential calendars approved by the Board would end the 2020-21 academic year on May 28, 2021.

In recent years, the Beaufort County Board of Education has joined nearly all school boards across South Carolina in urging the General Assembly to end its statewide school start date limitation on the basis that they should be allowed to set their own districts’ start dates based on local needs and priorities.