The Warren County R-III School District has decided against moving up the start date of the 2020-21 school year.
Given the extensive absence from the classrooms that students are facing as a …
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The Warren County R-III School District has decided against moving up the start date of the 2020-21 school year.
Given the extensive absence from the classrooms that students are facing as a result of COVID-19 and school being canceled in mid-March, the district gave consideration to modifying the calendar for the upcoming school year. The proposal centered around moving the current planned start date of Aug. 25 to a few weeks earlier in the month.
“The state board had given districts the flexibility on their start date to maximize face-to-face contact for students, just in case there’d be another shut- down in the fall with a second wave of COVID, said Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith”
The district held a public hearing and, based upon feedback, decided not to alter the state date. Around 10 people voiced their opinions on the topic, with several expressing that changes would interrupt plans such as involvement in the Missouri State Fair.
“After hearing and listening to the constituents here in the community, we opted not to have school start early,” said Klinginsmith. “The board did a great job of listening to the community and making decisions based upon that feedback.”
The district moved quickly on the topic, inviting feedback prior to its board meeting on Thursday, after receiving permission from the state to modify dates on Tuesday.
“We wanted to act as quickly as possible in order to give people a chance to plan in the case of a change,” said Klinginsmith.
He says the decision to not to alter dates falls in line with most districts across Missouri, who are opting to keep the original calendar in place.
R-III is still uncertain on the outlook of summer school. It would be possible to begin summer school after July 4 and finish with another small break before the beginning of the regular school year if necessary.
“We don’t have enough information to make a decision on it yet,” said Klinginsmith. “My goal is to have face-to-face instruction this summer just to get kids caught up on learning. The missed learning during that fourth quarter could be problematic. We know that face-to-face learning is better than any virtual instruction we could have.”
In regards to holding prom at a later date, Klinginsmith says that decision would be made at the high school level.
