NEWARK – The Worcester County Board of Education modified the school calendar Tuesday to incorporate three half days and distance learning to address mental health concerns.
The school board on Tuesday unanimously approved a recommendation from Superintendent Lou Taylor Tuesday to make Dec. 17 a half day and to have distance learning rather than in-person learning on Dec. 20, 21 and 22. He also recommended half days on March 11 and May 6.
“As many of us know or have experienced personally, the sustained trauma from the pandemic has brought a new set of challenges to school systems not only here in Worcester but across our country,” Taylor said. “We know that quality education cannot take place within our classrooms if our students, faculty and staff are not whole and what I mean by that, both physically and mentally.”
Taylor said that while the leadership team was already working on providing resources for staff to support their mental health, he was also suggesting calendar modifications.
“In the proposal you see before you, we have an early dismissal day on Friday, Dec. 17 to provide time for teachers prepare for the following Monday through Wednesday, which as you can see, those days have been identified as distance learning days,” he said. “This will allow our students and staff to participate in learning activities from the comforts of their homes before we officially begin our winter break on the 23rd.”
The three days before winter break for the holidays will be asynchronous, meaning students will not be required to log in to Zoom classes with teachers. Work will be assigned for students to complete on their own schedule without online classrooms.
“We’re trying to make it a little bit of a relief for parents and kids,” said Beth Shockley-Lynch, president of the Worcester County Teachers Association, in an interview Thursday. “There will be no Zooming.”
She said a committee would be meeting next week to determine exactly how the three distance learning days would be handled. She stressed that educators would try to keep things as simple as possible.
“Kids are under stress too,” Shockley-Lynch said.
As the calendar modifications were presented Tuesday, Taylor added that the proposal also included half days on March 11 and May 6.
“As you know, balancing the legal and contractual requirements of our calendar is not easy but I am happy to share these modifications would not extend our school year any further, as both distance learning and early dismissal days meet the requirements of a full day under the state’s 180-day requirement,” he said.
The school boarded voted unanimously to approve the changes. The changes in Worcester come just a week after the Wicomico County Board of Education modified its calendar to include one early dismissal day each month.
“We fully recognize this change in the calendar could result in challenges for some parents who may need to find additional childcare,” Wicomico Superintendent Donna Hanlin said. “However, we ask for parents’ understanding as we ensure that our staff is able to best meet the needs of our children through a focus on their mental health. Our staff needs our understanding and patience now more than ever after 20 of the most challenging months in the history of public education.”
Shockley-Lynch said the teachers association hadn’t asked for the Worcester County calendar modifications.
“We were pleasantly surprised,” she said. “The board came up with it on their own. They saw the new challenges we’re facing.”
She praised Taylor for taking mental health concerns into account.
“I think he’s looking at everybody’s wellbeing,” she said.
