The board for Lincoln County School District No. 2 heard information regarding a potential change to the school calendar at their most recent meeting on September 10. Over the course of discussion during the presentation, it was proposed that the board seek input from district stakeholders leading up to a work session scheduled for October 1.

The Cokeville calendar is not up for discussion at this time. This discussion is for Star Valley schools only.

Currently the state requires the minimum number of hours for instruction to be 900 for elementary schools, 950 for middle schools and 1,000 for high schools. Star Valley schools currently have 951 hours for their elementary schools, 1,005 for Star Valley Middle School and 1,014 for Star Valley and Swift Creek high schools.

In discussing a unified calendar, or one that encompasses all schools in the Star Valley area, several examples were presented as potential options. These included several variations of a four or five day week with spring break included or not included. A longer school day, more days in the school year and other options are part of the topic as the district would need to meet state standards for instructional time for students and staff.

“We would like to receive some formal direction and comments that have been made by stakeholders, employees and students,” noted Superintendent Matt Erickson who addressed the board. “We would respectfully ask you to articulate what additional information you need to make a decision so we can be prepared for the work session.”

The work session scheduled for October 1 would preface the next regular LCSD No. 2 board meeting on October 8, which would include any potential action to the current calendar moving forward.

Erickson pointed out that prior to the 2011-12 school year, Star Valley schools were on a 175-instructional day calendar and the possibility of a unified calendar was first proposed. An alternative calendar was used on a two-year trial at Star Valley High School.

Beginning with the 2016-17 school year, the Star Valley schools began using a unified calendar with 16 “high-use Fridays” or Fridays that included a large portion of the schools being engaged in extra-curricular activities.

Erickson stated that in examining the options of potentially changing the current calendar can be broken down into two categories; Operations and Preference. For example, stakeholders may prefer a four-day calendar, but there are significant changes that a four-day week would have on operations for the district.

Some of the options in the presentation included:

• A four-day week with no spring break

• A four-day week including spring break

• A four or five day week hybrid with spring break

• A four day week with no school on a specific Friday each month such as the first or the fourth Friday.

• A 175-day instruction calendar with five days a week

“We would encourage the community to give their questions and comments to their local school board members so we can have the best information to work with as it pertains to this work session,” Erickson continued. “There are so many hours every year spent every year to figure out the perfect calendar. There are a lot of preferences and we would like to figure out a five to seven year plan.”

LCSD No. 2 board members can be contacted at schoolboard@lcsd2.org.