PRESS RELEASE – February 3, 2017

The Interim Superintendent has worked with the staff advisory committee to develop a school calendar for the 2017-18 school year. Fluvanna County Public Schools chooses to start school in early August so that first semester can be completed prior to leaving for winter break. This option allows high school students to finish exams and SOL testing prior to a break in instruction.

Fluvanna County Public Schools is currently soliciting input for the proposed 2017-18 School Calendar.

We appreciate you taking the time to review the calendar and provide feedback. The Advisory Committee will review the survey results before the interim superintendent makes a final recommendation to the Fluvanna County School Board.

Option 1-
-Staff return on July 31
-Winter Break is 13 days for staff and 14 days for students
-Last day of school is May 19

Option 2-
-Staff have a flexible workday in July and all staff return August 1
-Open House moves to Monday, August 7.
-Winter Breaks is 14 days long for staff and 15 days for students
-Last day of school is May 23

Please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FlucoCalendar1718 to complete an online survey to provide your feedback by Tuesday, February 7.

If computer access is not available, you may request a paper copy of the survey from your student’s school.

If you have additional questions regarding the calendar, please contact your child’s building principal.

West Central and Central- Amy Barnabei at abarnabei@apps.fluco.org or 434-510-1016
Carysbrook- Scott Lucas at slucas@apps.fluco.org or 434-842-1241
Fluvanna Middle- Brad Stang at bstang@apps.fluco.org or 434-510-1000
Fluvanna County High- James Barlow at jbarlow@apps.fluco.org or 434-589-3666

The two options are attached:  View Full Press Release

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
FLUVANNA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS INSTRUCTIONAL CALENDAR
Fluvanna County Public Schools (FCPS) works to develop a school calendar that best serves the instructional needs of our students. We work to gather input for our school community when developing the calendar, but recognize that we will not be able to accommodate everyone’s requests.
1. How many school days are required?
Virginia public schools are required to develop a school calendar which has a minimum of 180 instructional days. Because the High School operates on a 4×4 semester block schedule, this means that each semester must be a minimum of 90 days.
2. How does bank time work?
Schools may use bank time in the event of missing instructional days due to inclement weather, state of emergency, etc. When using bank time, schools must document a minimum of 990 instructional hours excluding recess and lunch. There is additional time added to each school’s instructional day to bank time. This practice was developed in an effort to avoid adding days to the end of the school year. When calculating bank time, early dismissals and late openings must be factored out.
3. Can we “get back” unused snow days/bank time?
The “extra time” added to the school day is instructional time and does not increase the expectation of teachers to work a minimum of 7.5 hours per day. Teachers are considered exempt employees. This means that they are not eligible for overtime pay. The division also has not required teachers to report to work on days when school is closed for inclement weather and has not reduced pay for days missed due to inclement weather. Bank time can only be accumulated for use to cover inclement weather days to maintain the SOQ minimum instructional hours/days. Banked time cannot be carried over into the next year, not is it considered compensatory during the year it is accrued.
4. Why do we start school in early August?
Several years ago, the recommendation was made by the High School staff to end first semester prior to Christmas break. This schedule allows students to complete all SOL and exams prior to leaving for break and increases time that would otherwise be lost to review after returning from break. Students who are taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes test in May of each year as required by College Board. Our schedule allows these students to complete the majority of their coursework prior to sitting for these assessments. The student performance data at the High School strongly supports this approach.
5. Staff Days
FCPS issues 200 day contracts to all of its teachers. Teachers are required to report to work for 180 student days and 13 staff days. The remaining seven days are currently unassigned. It is understood that teachers spend time out side of the school day preparing lessons, grading papers, and arranging their classrooms for instruction.