Henrico Schools changes pre-Labor Day start proposal to avoid longer year

The Henrico County Public Schools district changed its proposal on a 2022-2023 school year calendar after hearing from community members who said they do not want a longer school year.

The proposal announced two weeks ago suggested that the school year would start Aug. 29, 2022 (a week earlier than usual) and end June 16, 2023 (a traditional end date). But parents were miffed that the school year would start a week earlier yet end the same week as usual, making the school year longer.

The new proposal for a pre-Labor Day start would begin the school year Aug. 29, 2022 and end it on June 9, 2023, keeping the same length that is in place now.

Almost 2,000 people responded to the survey, Chief of Staff Beth Teigen told the Henrico School Board Tuesday.

“For those indicating that they were not in support of a pre-Labor Day start, the main reason was because if we started one week earlier, they wanted to be sure we got out one week earlier,” Teigen said.

The new proposed calendar reflects that feedback. There is also a traditional post-Labor Day start option that would keep things the same. With that option, the school year would begin Sept. 6, 2022 and end June 16, 2023.

Last year, the school board introduced the idea of a pre-Labor Day start for the 2021-22 school year, but the effort was postponed in June as the COVID-19 pandemic upended students’ summers.

The calendar committee will meet several more times before the School Board decides on calendar proposals in late August.

The district is seeking more input from families and staff during July virtual information sessions and through an online form.

If the pre-Labor Day start is adopted, it will start in “baby steps,” starting one week before Labor Day in 2022 and two weeks before Labor Day in 2023. The second year of Pre-Labor Day school would begin Aug. 21, 2023 and end May 31, 2024.

One positive of a pre-Labor Day start would be aligning with other school districts like Chesterfield, Teigen said.

The pre-Labor day option for the 2022-2023 school year would keep holiday breaks the same (Winter Break Dec. 19-30 and Spring Break April 3-7). But for the second year of pre-Labor Day start, the holiday breaks would get shifted back. Winter Break would occur Dec. 25, 2023 to Jan. 5, 2024 and Spring Break would be April 1-5, 2024.

Neither proposal affects the coming 2021-22 school year, which begins Sept. 8.

The school district will hold a virtual information session for HCPS employees July 14. The following day, the school division will hold two more virtual information sessions for families and the general public to ask questions and give input. The July 15 sessions will be held 11 a.m.-noon and 4-5 p.m.

The full proposals may be viewed at www.henricoschools.us/proposed-calendars/.

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.