Ohio County Schools holds calendar hearing as community raises AP testing concerns

Ohio County Schools held a public hearing at 5:48 p.m. to review proposed school calendars; district staff said Calendar A was the survey’s clear choice and would place the staff start on Aug. 20 and the student start on Aug. 26, with spring break split on Monday and Friday.

Mrs. Mel, who presented the calendar materials, said ‘‘Calendar A overwhelmingly was the winner’’ of the community survey and summarized the key dates and breaks. She told the board the high school requested a change to Sunday for graduation and the district was able to accommodate that change because the chosen calendar provided the needed flexibility. She cited a district rule that seniors ‘‘cannot get out five days any five days earlier than the rest of the student body’’ as part of the scheduling constraint.

During public comment, an unnamed resident who identified family ties to Williams High School urged the district to reconsider the Aug. 26 student start. The commenter said recent lost instructional time — ‘‘we lost a lot of instructional days,’’ citing about 10 cancellations plus multiple two-hour delays and other disruptions — has already put students behind and that moving the start earlier would ‘‘compress’’ the time AP students have to prepare. ‘‘Weweare already behind. Weve already lost 10 days of time,’’ the commenter said, and asked the district three direct questions: why start on Aug. 26, what educational benefits justify that start, and what conversations took place with AP teachers.

The chair clarified that AP exams occur on fixed dates and that a shifted start could reduce preparation time; the commenter agreed that was the core concern.

Mrs. Milton, responding for the calendar committee, said the committee had discussed AP scheduling ‘‘at length’’ and that a liaison had provided information to the group. ‘‘That is definitely a concern,’’ she said, adding from personal experience, ‘‘I taught AP biology. I would be concerned too.’’ She said the district sought to balance competing community preferences and that the volunteer committee was open to anyone who wished to participate. Mrs. Milton said she did not recall that the committee specifically included AP teachers as members, but that Mrs. Daylor had spoken on behalf of AP teachers via email.

Board members pressed for additional detail about instructional minutes and pacing. A member asked whether the district’s pacing guide and an additional 30 minutes of instruction per day would offset fewer calendar days; Mrs. Milton said the district provides more than the minimum 180 days and that the extra daily minutes increase instructional time but do not add calendar days. She said she did not have the specific pacing numbers at the hearing but offered to provide them later.

The public hearing was closed at 5:56 p.m., and the board adjourned after noting there was no further business.

What’s next: The public hearing record will be part of the district’s calendar review process; the transcript shows the committee has discussed AP concerns but did not resolve the specific requests to change the start date during this session.