AE - School Year

File:    AE

Annual School Calendar

1.     GENERAL

1.1  SCOPE  This policy provides the rationale and requirements for the annual school calendar.

1.2  AUTHORITY    School Laws of West Virginia, 18-5-45

1.3  FILING DATE            JULY 2010

1.4  EFFECTIVE DATE    July 2010

2.     PHILOSOPHY

2.1  The primary purpose of the school system is to provide instruction for students.

2.2  The school calendar, as defined in this section, is designed to define the school term both for employees and for instruction.

2.3  The school calendar traditionally has provided for one hundred eighty actual days of instruction but numerous circumstances have combined to cause the actual number of instructional days to be less than one hundred eighty.

2.4  The quality and amount of instruction offered during the instructional term is affected by the extracurricular and co-curricular activities allowed to occur during scheduled instructional time.

2.5  Within reasonable guidelines, the school calendar should be designed at least to guarantee that one hundred eighty actual days of instruction are possible.

• 1. GUIDELINES

3.1  The county board shall provide a school term for its schools that contains the following:

  i.     An employment term for teachers of no less than two hundred days, exclusive of Saturdays and Sundays; and

  ii.     Within the employment term, an instructional term for students of no less than one hundred eighty separate instructional days, which shall include an icy conditions and emergencies plan designed to guarantee an instructional term for students of no less than one hundred eighty separate instructional days.

3.2  The instructional term for students shall include one instructional day in each of the months of October, December, February, April and June which is an instructional support and enhancement day scheduled by the board to include both instructional activities for students and professional activities for teachers to improve student instruction.

3.3  The instructional term shall commence on a date selected by the county board and terminate on a date selected by the county board.

3.4  Non-instructional days shall total twenty and shall be comprised of the following:

    i.     Seven holidays as specified in section two, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code;

    ii.     Election day as specified in section two, article five, chapter eighteen-a of the WV Code;

   iii.     Six days to be designated by the county board to be used by the employees outside the                school environment; and

   iv.     Six days to be designated by the county board for any of the following purposes:

1.     Curriculum development;

2.     Preparation for opening and closing school;

3.     Professional development;

4.     Teacher-pupil-parent conferences;

5.     Professional meetings; and

6.     Making up days when instruction was scheduled but not conducted.

  v.     Three of the days described in subdivision iv above shall be scheduled prior to the commencement of the instructional term for the purposes of preparing for the opening of school and staff development.

  vi.     At least one of the days described in subdivision iv above shall be scheduled after the termination of the instructional term for the purpose of preparing for the closing of school.

   vii.     At least four of the days described in subdivision iii above shall be scheduled after March 1.

  viii.     At least two of the days described in subdivision iv will be scheduled for professional development.  The professional development conducted on these days will be consistent with the goals established by the state board pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-three-a, article two of this chapter.

  ix.     If, on or after March 1, the county board determines that it is not possible to complete one hundred eighty separate days of instruction, the county board shall schedule instruction on any available non-instructional day, regardless of the purpose for which the day originally was scheduled, and the day will be used for instruction, subject to the following:

1.     The non-instructional days scheduled for professional development shall be the last available non-instructional days to be rescheduled as instructional days;

2.     On or after March 1, the county board also may require additional minutes of instruction in the school day to make up for lost instructional days in excess of the days available through rescheduling and, if in its judgment it is reasonable and necessary to improve student performance, to avoid scheduling instruction on non-instructional days previously scheduled for professional development; The provisions of this subsection do not apply to holidays and election day.

3.5  Prior to implementing the school calendar, the county board shall secure approval of its proposed calendar from the state board or, if so designated by the state board, from the state superintendent.

3.6  Where the employment term overlaps a teacher's or service personnel's participation in a summer institute or institution of higher education for the purpose of advancement or professional growth, the teacher or service personnel may substitute, with the approval of the county superintendent, the participation for up to five of the non-instructional days of the employment term.

Clay County Board of Education