The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County is now considering five options for the 2021-2022 School Year Calendar after two Board members, Board President Melissa Ellis and Member Robert Silkworth, crafted an alternative to add to the four options presented by the Calendar Committee in November.
The Board is now scheduled to discuss the options and adopt a calendar at its January 20, 2021, meeting.
The Ellis-Silkworth proposal calls for classes to begin on September 8, 2021, and tentatively end on June 21, 2022, and contains a six-day Easter/Spring Break, the same as the second priority calendar offered by the Calendar Committee. It designates three two-hour early dismissals (in October, November, and March) and two two-hour delayed arrivals (in November and March) to create time which would be utilized for parent-teacher conferences instead of the traditional two or three full days on which schools are closed for students so that conferences can be held.
The proposal also denotes May 3, 2022, the date of Eid al-Fitr, as a professional development day on which there would be no school for students.
All five options under consideration can be seen here.
The Calendar Committee forwarded four options to the Board in November. All contain four professional development days focusing on equity and the achievement gap; a three-day Thanksgiving break; a six-day Easter/Spring break; three full days for parent-teacher conferences at the elementary and middle school levels; and two days for parent-teacher conferences at the high school level.
The Calendar Committee options build in two days for inclement weather and add a conditional third day if needed. The Ellis-Silkworth proposal builds in three days for inclement weather.
In priority order, the Calendar Committee options are:
- Priority 1: Classes begin on August 30, 2021, and tentatively end on June 14, 2022.
- Priority 2: Classes begin on September 8, 2021, and tentatively end on June 21, 2022.
- Priority 1a: Classes begin on August 30, 2021, and tentatively end on June 15, 2022, with May 3, 2022, denoted as a professional development day on which there would be no school for students.
- Priority 2a: Classes begin on September 8, 2021, and tentatively end on June 22, 2022, with May 3, 2022, denoted as a professional development day on which there would be no school for students.
Prior to the development of the Ellis-Silkworth proposal, the Board conducted a public survey to garner public input on the preferred start and end dates for classes and the length of the Easter/Spring break. The results of that survey can be found here.