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Board moves to alter mid‑January schedule to protect EOC testing window; members debate longer-term calendar changes
Summary
The board approved a short-term schedule adjustment to ensure five consecutive days for end-of-course (EOC) exams and voted to have elementary school in session Jan. 21–22 while middle and high school follow a staggered plan; board members also debated proposed 2025–26 calendar start times and potential waivers to place exams before winter break.
Caswell County Schools moved the first-semester calendar forward one day to preserve a five-day window for state end-of-course (EOC) exams, and the board approved a motion to keep elementary schools in session January 21–22 while middle and high schools use a staggered schedule that keeps a work day for high school staff on Jan. 22.
Board staff explained the immediate change was necessary because EOCs cannot be administered on a remote or two-hour-delay day; state testing windows and DPI rules require sufficient consecutive time for testing and for DPI-provided extended-time accommodations. The accountability and student information director, Miss Apple, said moving the semester end by one day gives students five days to take EOCs: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Jan. 21, with the required teacher work day shifted to Jan. 22 and the second-semester start moved to Jan. 23. She said the report card date would shift one day as well.
During discussion, several board members expressed concerns about bus routing, staffing, and impacts on families if high schools begin later in future calendars. Principal and secondary administrators explained tiered bus routing and supervision plans for later start times, and said students could be in supervised spaces before classes begin.
A motion that elementary school be in session Jan. 21–22, while middle and high schools attend Jan. 21 with a turnaround/work day for high school staff on Jan. 22 and February 19 reverted to an optional teacher workday, was moved and seconded. The motion was put to a voice/hand vote and carried.
Board members also debated the proposed 2025–26 calendar presented by the calendar committee, which included a later start time for high school (8:30 a.m.) and a staggered start/dismissal schedule intended to increase instructional hours at the elementary level and bank hours to reduce future make-up days. Members asked staff to return with alternative calendar options: (1) the committee calendar as proposed, (2) an option starting five days earlier in August, and (3) a calendar that preserves current start times but adjusts instructional hours. Staff said the committee could reconvene and present multiple drafts at a future work session.
Members asked about legal and funding consequences of calendars that depart from the state’s calendar rules; staff said districts sometimes request waivers from the state school board and that DPI has previously approved waivers in other districts, but members asked the board attorney and staff to confirm legal exposure before pursuing calendars that could conflict with state statute. Board members agreed to a follow-up work session and to remove start/stop times from the calendar draft during the next public discussion to separate the two decisions.
