GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Parents express frustration regarding Guilford County School's 2023-24 calendar, more specifically changes to this year's Christmas break.
Christmas break is normally two weeks, this year, GCS students get eight days. They are not out of school until Friday of this week. The policy was approved months ago.
According to GCS, a survey was sent out before the school year started, several parents responded, but several did not. Some of the parents who did respond to the survey feel like they haven't been heard.
One of the parents expressed frustration and said these changes are not only altering Christmas break but the number of school days there will be this year.
WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman made a post online asking parents for their thoughts on Guilford County's Christmas break starting later and being shorter this year. Many shared frustration on the matter while others said people should have had it on their radar.
"I definitely responded [to the survey] and specifically addressed the shortened winter break. They took seven teacher work days from last year's calendar. It used to be 173 student days, and then they turned those seven teachers' work days into school days," the parent of two GCS students, Melanie Huynh-Duc said.
Huynh-Duc also said those two weeks are usually spent on vacation for most families, and that most parents are used to planning trips during this break in the years past. She said this change in the calendar could result in more absences.
"I imagine that there will be some students who are absent and they'll have makeup work. I know my seventh grader has a test today and a test tomorrow. So, if there were absent students, they're gonna have to make those up when they get back," Huynh-Duc said.
Another parent and extracurricular activity director in Stokesdale, who often works with GCS kids, said the same thing. Not only will students be absent, but teachers may be absent too regarding this change.
"I mean, I would venture to say, that there’s going be a lot of kids that are going be out the first few days of school, and probably some teachers because this is not customary; they’re trying to adjust to it," Stokesdale Site Director with Operation Xcel, Maurice Revels said.
With several comments online reading that the parents who are shocked should have known by reading the calendar, Revels spoke on what he calls a "realistic approach" to that argument.
"You just assume it's gonna be two weeks, so, nobody's really looking at that. So, when it gets up to it, and you're like, 'Oh, wait a minute, this is not two weeks'. Then, there's an issue. So, you can make the argument that 'hey, you should have looked at it' but we're talking about being realistic," Revels said. "They should have been looking at the calendar but as a parent myself and have raised kids. I mean come on, who really looks at the calendar that close when you're looking at something far off like the Christmas break, you just assume it's two weeks."
"The district really wants our input," GCS parent Tori Brashers-Weathers said. "We have to be active and present parents, engaging with the school and district to ensure we know the decisions that will impact our family. It's not an easy decision for a district to appease everyone, especially with a district as large as Guilford County. I say do as I do, print the calendar when it comes out each year, and plan accordingly."
Heads up to all GCS parents out there, the same goes for next year's calendar, but instead of starting on the Friday before Christmas week, the break will start on the Monday of Christmas week on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024.
Guilford County Schools Response
When we developed the 2023-24 through 2025-26 calendars last winter, one of the commitments we made to students was restoring the 180-day school calendar in alignment with our core strategies for addressing learning loss (expanded learning time, high-impact tutoring, and accelerated on-grade-level instruction). Over the course of a student's school career, the reduced instructional time of a shorter calendar adds up. A 173-day calendar — like last year's — provides an entire semester or 91 fewer days less learning time.
The development of the school calendar and the exact duration of winter break depends on many factors, including on what day of the week Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 fall. These holidays are exactly one week apart, and GCS generally schedules one optional staff workday before students return to enable evaluation of facilities and instructional planning so schools are prepared to receive students in the new year.
Here is the Board's agenda item from the calendars' approval in February 2023, which contains much information about last year's calendar process for your reference. The administration and the Board read and consider every single piece of feedback we receive throughout the calendar development process from the diverse Calendar Committee — which includes parents, employee organizations, and community representatives — and the public comments.
The calendars are created with a number of considerations, including stakeholder feedback, testing requirements, required holidays, and strict guidelines for beginning and ending the school year according to North Carolina state law.
The calendars for the next two school years are available at www.gcsnc.com.