VIRGINIA — While two schools in Richmond are trying out a school year with 20 more days, a survey of Virginia Patch readers found a majority wouldn’t want a longer school year. On the other hand, reader comments suggested some support for a year-round school year with periodic breaks.
The survey on the school year length stems from Richmond Public Schools starting a 200-day school year pilot program at two schools — Fairfield Court Elementary and Cardinal Elementary School to address learning lost by COVID-19 school closures and other impacts of the pandemic, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Those schools started the school year on Monday, about a month earlier than most Virginia K-12 schools will begin.
The standard for most school districts is a 180-day school year, which is required under Virginia law.
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“There may be students who would benefit from being in school more and the counties should provide programs for those kids but it should definitely not be the norm to have more school days,” a respondent said. “Lots of time in school is already wasted and seems more babysitting than actual learning. We don’t need more of that for everyone.”
Our survey from midday Tuesday, July 25 to midday Thursday, July 27, had nearly 600 responses with 57.8 percent of respondents indicating they have school-aged children. A majority of respondents — 61.4 percent — live in the Fairfax County Public Schools district.
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The next highest groups of respondents were 11 percent from the Prince William County Public Schools district, 7.5 percent from Loudoun County Public Schools, 7.3 percent from Alexandria City Public Schools and 2.5 percent from Arlington Public Schools. Patch responses from around Virginia, from Fredericksburg, Stafford County and Spotysylvania County to Chesapeake and Culpeper County.
Overall, 58.3 percent said they don’t support a longer school year beyond the required 180 instructional days in Virginia. Another 34.2 percent support the idea and 7.5 percent were unsure.
Given Richmond Public Schools cited learning loss as a reason to test the 200-day school year, 55.1 percent of respondents believe a longer school year won’t curb learning loss.
“A longer school year is not going to help. It will hurt families being able to spend quality family time together. I do think it is ok to send work home with children to be done over the summer to keep them learning,” one respondent wrote in the comments section of the survey.
On the other hand, 34.6 percent believe the school year should be longer than 180 days.
“My son just aged out of FCPS special education and many in his class would have benefitted from more time in school,” one reader shared. “Consistency is imperative for learning and mental health.”
“Standardized text scores are a strong indicator that education of our children suffered during the pandemic,” one respondent said. “A longer school year would help to address this issue. We need our young people to be well educated for the future of our commonwealth and the future of our country.”
“I think we should keep kids in school as long as we can. Keep them busy and keep them learning. Parents who pay for camp need relief,” another shared.
Some who support a longer school year believe that would warrant additional funding support for schools.
“If longer school year, then pay the teachers more! They are stressed beyond their limits. Having to catch up with learning loss and so many demands put upon them,” one respondent shared. “Plus there are so many special needs kids or behavioral (emotional) issues with kids which puts additional stress on them.”
Others shared support for year-round school with longer breaks in between.
“I’d be more interested in year round school that allows for periodic breaks during the year,” said one respondent. “The breaks could be used like vacation for some families but could also be used to focus on academic needs of a smaller group- enrichment projects or tutoring more like summer school.”
Start and End Times for School Year
We also asked readers about their preferred times for the school year to start and end. Until 2019, a Virginia law nicknamed the “Kings Dominion Law” prevented school districts from opening before Labor Day unless they applied for a waiver due to a large number of snow days in the previous school year. New Virginia legislation approved in 2019 changed that, allowing school divisions to open two weeks before Labor Day if they give students a four-day Labor Day weekend break. Many school districts now start before Labor Day.
In our survey, 39.8 percent of the respondents said they would prefer a start time after Labor Day, which is usually in early September. Another 25.8 percent supported a start one week before Labor Day, and 18.6 percent prefer two weeks before Labor Day. There were 13.6 percent who prefer a start in early August and 2.2 percent in late July.
“Our kids are older, and always started school after Labor Day,” one respondent shared. “When they made the switch, it seemed crazy for the kids to be in school for a week and then have four days off. Sandwiching the summer break between July 4 and Labor Day seems to make sense.”
“Reduce the excess school holidays and teacher work days added in recent years. Start the school year right after Labor Day and conclude by mid June,” another reader said.
Nearly half — 47.3 percent — believe the school year should end in early June. A school year ending in mid-June is preferred by 27.8 percent of respondents, and 18.3 percent preferred late June. A small share indicated ending before or around Memorial Day would be ideal.
Notable Responses from Our Survey
Here are other notable thoughts from readers about the school year timing in the comments section of the survey. Feel free to share your thoughts below in the comments.
In Favor of Rear-Round School
In Favor of Keeping Summer Break
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