The Lumberton ISD school board is set to again take up the issue of how many days a week its students will attend school in the 2023-24 school year.
The school board failed in January to approve a four-day hybrid calendar that would transition the school year from a traditional five days a week, 172 day school year to a 168 school year in which students would have Fridays off for four months out of the school year. The change would also add 10 minutes to each school day.
The board will take up the issue at its February regular meeting and will weigh both the proposed hybrid calendar as well as a traditional calendar.
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In an email sent to media outlets Saturday evening, Lumberton ISD Superintendent Tony Tipton said that since January’s board meeting, board members have received feedback from “many sources,” leading Board President James Kersh to believe that both options should be discussed and considered.
In the email Tipton linked an op-ed he wrote about the issue, outlining why some school districts like Lumberton are considering changes such as this.
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Also attached in the email was a question-and-answer presentation on why the district is considering a four-day week calendar. Reasons include student and staff mental and physical health; student and staff attendance; substitute fill rates; the ability to provide staff more freedom and work-life balance; energy savings; improved transportation for extracurricular events and to recruit future and retain current team members.
If the calendar is approved, it would serve as a pilot program for two to three years and would have to be re-approved by the board each year.
The board’s next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 in the district’s board room located in the Administration Building, 121 S Main St. in Lumberton.
Check back with The Beaumont Enterprise on Monday for more details on the calendar discussion.
olivia.malick@hearst.com
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