ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — Alamance-Burlington School Systems approved a new calendar change to the school district Monday night.
After mold delayed the start of the school year, three days now become full student work days.
Based on the input received, Oct. 30, Dec. 20, and Jan. 2 are the new full student days.
The district sent out a survey to parents and staff to get their opinions on potential changes.
Chief Academic Officer Revonda Johnson presented the state of the District Monday night and announced new initiatives ABSS will implement this year to improve student outcomes District-wide.
New initiatives include:
- Launching a new elementary math curriculum to strengthen foundational skills.
- Providing tutors funded by federal dollars at every elementary school, targeting the most at-risk students.
- Implementing a tiered support model to focus more district resources on highest-need schools.
- Expanding evening and Saturday academies at all high schools to support credit recovery and graduation.
- Reducing teacher vacancies by 50% compared to last year, ensuring strong staff support from day one.
- Making strategic principal reassignments to better support school improvement.
"We are using some of our federal dollars to launch expanded tutoring support for our most vulnerable students this year," said Revonda Johnson, Chief Academic Officer.
According to the ABSS spokesperson, Les Atkins, the district reserves the right to use any workday, vacation day, or Saturday as a student day including Spring Break as needed.
Atkins said the board made this decision to use Oct. 30 instead of going further into the Winter Break or altering the Thanksgiving Break.
"The board reviewed the survey results and understood the overwhelming response to adding hours to the school day but later decided this was not in the best interest of children," Atkins added. "The 12-minute addition would have some students getting home after 6 p.m. due to the current bus driver shortage."
There were additional concerns about staffing. The 12-minute addition would force many staff members into overtime, or we would have to allow them to leave early which was a safety concern with fewer staff on hand or dismissal.
Atkins said the board acknowledged the tough decision, but did what was best for children, and they felt extending the day was not the best option at this time.
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