JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Students in Duval County public schools will spend more time in the classroom this school year, after district leaders made an update to the school calendar, changing four half days scheduled for the last week of school (May 28 through 31) to full days of instruction.
In the news release, district leaders say they wanted to address concerns including from parents about childcare and to give teachers more time for instruction.
Special education teacher Chris Guerrieri is already preparing for his end of year tasks.
"There's so much paperwork that you have to do at the end of the year for teachers and you have to get your room ready. Those four half days were a boom for teachers," Guerrieri, a Special Education Teacher DCPS, said.
The four half days during the last week of school will now be full days of instruction after district leaders made the change halfway through the school year.
"I don't think anybody really knew what was going on until it happened," Guerrieri said. "We have to get buy-in from teachers for things that affect teachers. We can't just go 'hey, you have to do this.' And I have to say, if this was such a big problem, why wasn't it addressed last summer?"
District leaders say they talked to the district’s calendar committee, made up of parents, teachers, staff and other stakeholders. Moving to full days they hope will help parents struggling to find childcare, address low student attendance during that week, and increase time for teachers to give instruction.
"I think it's beneficial when it comes down to the children because, they actually get their full class time," Geneva Barber, a DCPS parents & teacher, said. "They have somewhere to go, so those that are not equipped to be able to have that type of help that they need in regard to their children, it definitely does help them by being at school."
District leaders announced the change on the Team Duval News platform Jan. 16. Geneva Barber, a DCPS parent and teacher, heard about the update from the news, making her question just how much input the district got from staff beforehand.
“Whenever you need to make a schedule change, it is more convenient to give people more time to do what needs to be done, because we don't want to run into the fact that we are not giving our best due to not being able to be prepared better," Barber said.
The Duval Teacher's Union is currently conducting a survey to see how teachers feel about the change.
Parents can head to the DCPS website to find the new calendar.