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Hoover parents, teachers favor longer Thanksgiving break over later school start

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Hoover parents and teachers apparently have come to like their full week off at Thanksgiving more than a later school start at the beginning of the year.

In a survey conducted Sept. 28 through Oct. 14, 61% of the 3,142 respondents said they preferred a calendar option with the full week off at Thanksgiving for the 2022-23 school year.

People had two calendar options from which to choose, and the primary differences concerned the beginning of the school year and the Thanksgiving break.

Option 1 had school starting for students on Aug. 16 and three days off for Thanksgiving, while Option 2 had school starting on Aug. 11 and a full week off for Thanksgiving.

There were a few other differences in the calendars. Option 1 would end the first semester on Dec. 22, and students would be out of school from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3. Option 2 would not end the first semester until Jan. 6, but students would be out of school from Dec. 21 through Jan. 3, and semester exams would be taken before the winter break.

Also, Option 1 had the last day of school for students as May 24, while Option 2 had the last day for students as May 25.

Assistant Superintendent Tera Simmons said this was the first time since she started working with calendar creation that both teachers and parents agreed on the same option in surveys. About 20 students also voted in the survey.

The survey also asked people to choose between three weeks for a preferred spring break (March 27-31, April 3-7 or April 10-14). Forty-seven percent of survey respondents favored March 27-31, while 32% chose April 3-7 and 21% chose April 10-14.

Based on the survey findings and the recommendation of a calendar committee, Superintendent Kathy Murphy recommended the Option 2 calendar and a March 27-31 spring break. The Hoover school board is scheduled to vote on the 2022-23 calendar at its Nov. 9 meeting.

The school board already has approved a calendar for 2021-22. It can be found on the school district’s website here.

Here is the complete recommended calendar for 2022-23:

IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION

In other Hoover school district news, central office administrator Ron Dodson shared with the school board last week that parents of 911 students requested changes in how they want their children to receive their education for the second nine-week period of school, which starts Oct. 19.

Eighty-three percent of those requests were for students to move from virtual instruction to in-person instruction, while 17% were requesting to go from in-person instruction to virtual instruction. Also, 90% of the requests for changes were at the high school level, Dodson said.

Two parents told the Hoover school board on Thursday they wanted to hear more of the rationale for students going five days per week.

Karli Morris, a parent from the Russet Woods area, noted that Jefferson County’s COVID-19 positivity rate had increased from 9.5% to 11.5% in the previous couple of weeks and said infectious disease experts recommend children not come back to school until rates were below 5%.

Jefferson County’s hospitalization rate also climbed back to around 10% in the previous two weeks and the risk of community spread was increasing, Morris said.

She said she was mystified that Hoover middle and high school students would start coming back to school five days per week. She asked what numbers it would take to reverse the decision.

Superintendent Kathy Murphy on Oct. 6 issued a statement about her decision to allow students to return to school five days per week. However, neither Murphy nor any school board members gave further rationale at Thursday night’s school board meeting or answered the two parents’ questions.

School board President Deanna Bamman said she appreciated the comments of the two parents and would take them under consideration.

ACADEMIC SLIDE

Dodson informed the school board that the academic slide that had been expected in math due to the COVID-19 pandemic was not as bad as expected. He had anticipated a 10-15% drop in math scores based on preliminary numbers that had been reviewed, but final numbers showed an 8% drop in math scores in Hoover schools between the fall of 2019 and fall of 2020. That’s still significant, he said. Meanwhile, reading levels were exactly the same, he said.

“I think it’s easier to keep kids reading in a virtual context,” Dodson said. “It’s harder to carry on math instruction, particularly for kids who are struggling.”

Hoover administrators are looking for new math curriculum resources for 2021-22, and the state is scheduled to adopt new curriculum standards for English, Dodson said.

“I see a very strong need for a comprehensive reading program in our elementary schools,” he said. “That’s something that we’ll be looking at intensely.”

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