Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. is asking community members — inside and outside of the school corporation — for input on its three-year calendar.
BCSC has posted a survey on its website regarding school calendar preferences. The results of this survey will be a consideration as the school corporation designs its calendar for the school years of 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24.
BCSC communications coordinator Josh Burnett said the proposed calendar will be presented to the board at the December meeting, and the deadline to fill out the survey is Nov. 3.
The survey asks each respondent to mark whether they are a BCSC employee, student, parent or community member.
“We definitely want to make sure to hear from our stakeholders around the community, both within and outside of BCSC, because we realize that this calendar impacts the whole community,” said Burnett.
After the respondent has marked which of the above groups they fall into, there are two more questions. One asks if the respondent would prefer to have longer breaks during the school year and a shorter summer break or, a longer summer break with shorter breaks during the school year.
The final question asks if the respondent would prefer to have five snow make-up days built into the calendar or have the five make-up days be completed via eLearning. As noted by BCSC in a public statement, Indiana students are required to attend school for 180 days; every day missed due to bad weather must be made up.
Burnett said that COVID-19 adds some unknown variables in regards to planning, but the school corporation is working with its staff and community to make the new calendar “beneficial” to all.
“Each time that we do a new calendar, there are new challenges that we take into account to make sure to best serve our community,” he said.
BCSC has sought community input with similar calendar preference surveys in the past.
For instance, the school calendar for 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 shortened Thanksgiving break from a full week to three days, as 52 percent of survey respondents indicated that they would support shortening the break if it allowed school to start later in August.
“We really appreciate our community taking the time to fill out the calendar survey,” Burnett said. “And, you know, we need their input to make the best decisions for our students and families. And their voice really matters.”
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A link to the BCSC School Calendar Survey can be found at bcscschools.org. The deadline to fill out the survey is Nov. 3.
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