Henrico Schools seeks input on calendar proposals for next 2 school years

Henrico County Public Schools officials are seeking input on several modifications to calendar draft proposal options for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. The HCPS Calendar Committee’s Aug. 12 presentation to the School Board outlined two areas in which the drafts saw tweaks, based on feedback from the School Board and the public. The modifications are aimed at:

• balancing the division’s four grading periods to make them as similar in length as possible;
• moving some half-days associated with the end of grading periods to Fridays when possible.

The options include both a pre-Labor Day start date and a more traditional post-Labor Day start for each school year. The revisions to the four drafts do not affect the major dates of the four proposals, such as start dates, end dates, and the dates of winter break and spring break.

The board is expected to decide on calendars for both school years at the end of this month, after getting input from families and staff members on the latest revisions.

Parents and guardians can see the full draft calendar proposals at http://www.henricoschools.us/proposed-calendars/. The page also has recordings of calendar virtual information sessions, summaries of public feedback collected so far, as well as an online form to submit new written feedback.

HCPS announced June 9 that it was restarting a conversation about whether the school year should begin before Labor Day in 2022-23, with an initial proposal to build in more time for cultural and religious observances by beginning school a week earlier while finishing at the school division’s traditional time in mid-June.

After a first round of feedback, the HCPS Calendar Committee responded with updated calendar ideas for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, to give Henrico employees and families advance notice of any changes.

The current pre-Labor Day proposals no longer lengthen the school year by one week, as first suggested by HCPS at the start of this process. Instead, the current proposals “shift” the school year to begin earlier, but also end earlier. None of the proposals would affect the coming 2021-22 school year, which begins Sept. 8.

2022-23 proposals
Highlights of the pre-Labor Day start for the 2022-23 school year include:
• School begins Aug. 29, 2022 (one week prior to Labor Day, which is Sept. 5).
• winter break is Dec. 19-30.
• spring break is April 3-7.
• last day of school for students is June 9, 2023.

Highlights of the post-Labor Day start include:
• school begins Sept. 6, 2022 (Labor Day is Sept. 5).
• winter break is Dec. 19-30.
• spring break is April 3-7.
• last day of school for students is June 16, 2023.

2023-24 proposals
Highlights of the pre-Labor Day start for the 2023-23 school year include:
• school begins Aug. 21, 2023 (two weeks prior to Labor Day, which is Sept. 4).
• winter break is Dec. 25-Jan. 5.
• spring break is April 1-5.
• Last day of school for students is May 31, 2024.

Highlights of the post-Labor Day start include:
• school begins Sept. 5, 2023 (Labor Day is Sept. 4).
• winter break is Dec. 25-Jan. 5.
• spring break is April 1-5.
• last day of school for students is June 14, 2024.

Of Virginia’s 135 school divisions, 105 have adopted a pre-Labor Day start date for 2021-22.