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FAIRMONT-- The Fairmont School Board got through its regular agenda Tuesday evening and swiftly moved into a work session where the school calendar for the next school year was discussed. While no decisions were made, it provided time for board members and administrators to discuss and share opinions.
Superintendent Andy Traetow said they wanted to indicate learning days for this summer and that a unique thing offered this summer will be exploration weeks in the final week of June and July.
"Our principals and other support staff have the opportunity to design experiential learning for kids who may otherwise not have access to and/or may have missed out on in the last two years with the pandemic," Traetow said.
He said that some of the district's ESSER funds can be used as they have a specific allocation of dollars to be used for experimental learning outside of the regular school day and in the summer months. All students would have the opportunity to take advantage of the exploration weeks.
Elementary co-principal Michelle Rosen said she's had some conversations with Community Education and Recreation Director, Stephanie Busiahn, about some possible educational trips that students could take.
Board member Julie Laue pointed out that for some kids it may be the only opportunity they have to do something like that.
"For some families, it's nothing to go to Mankato to spend a day, but for some kids, they may not even know it's north of Fairmont," Laue said.
Traetow said he is having conversations with dean of students, Andy Walden, and that they will continue to develop plans for those weeks.
In continuing to look at the calendar, the 2022-23 school year is slated to start after Labor Day with parent-teacher conferences on Sept. 6 and 7 for the elementary school. An open house would take place on Sept. 6 at the high school. The first day of school would be Sept. 7 for high school students and Sept. 8 for elementary students.
Board Member Mike Edman questioned why students aren't starting on the day after Labor Day. Rosen shared that back to school conferences have traditionally been the best-attended as students meet their classroom teachers those days.
"We don't have enough slots to get them all in one day," Traetow said.
High school co-principal Alex Schmidt said that the open house provided junior high students the opportunity to get their Chromebooks and the older students were able to get theirs updated.
In October there's the traditional MEA long weekend with Thursday, Oct. 20 and Friday Oct. 21 off. There's also no school that following Monday though it is a teacher workshop day.
Traetow said November includes the regular schedule of parent/teacher workshops and a Thanksgiving break from Nov. 23- Nov. 27. December includes a holiday break from Dec. 23- Jan. 3 or 4.
The board also discussed spring break. Traetow said they had a lengthy discussion surrounding the length of spring break and several different models were considered. Board Member Nicole Green said that ultimately it was preferred to keep it as a two day break.
The topic of graduation garnered a lot of thoughts and opinions from board members and administrators. Traetow said he and the high school co-principals recently attended the annual Big South meeting in Marshall a few weeks ago and at that time discussed the topic with other area principals.
Schmidt said, "We shared that ours is on Sunday and we got sideways looks. I think there was one other school that did Sunday. The others do Friday evenings. We were an outlier," Schmidt said.
He said that other schools shared that when it's on a Friday, staff members would lead students in for the graduation ceremony, whereas now few staff attend and if they do, they're in the crowd with everyone else.
"I like the staff addition to it because it adds a different element of completion. A lot of staff have a huge part in the process," Schmidt said.
As it is now, graduation is slated to take place on Sunday, June 4, 2023.
"If we were ever to make a change to that, we would have to give families ample notice," Traetow said.
Green added that if changes were to be made, it wouldn't be until the 2024 graduation.
Board Member Dan Brookens said he likes the idea of it being on Sunday because it allows family members who are traveling enough time to make it to the ceremony.
On the other hand, Edman voiced strong feelings toward having it on a Friday.
"What other school official event takes place on a Sunday? Zero. It's not appropriate to have it on a Sunday. I would want to change it for next year," Edman said.
Board members talked about how far in advance many families book venues and set dates for graduation parties. Edman said he doesn't think that individual family parties should weigh heavily on what they do as it's a school function.
Green said if changing it is something they're leaning toward, they need to start looking at it more seriously. Traetow said they started looking at the 2022-23 school calendar in Dec. 2021.
Finally, the board discussed the concept of moving forward with monthly Cardinal Community Days which would take place the last Friday of each month.
"The goal is to maximize opportunities for students to take ownership of learning and would allow staff time to collectively collaborate," Traetow said.
On these days, asynchronous learning opportunities will happen. Teachers would still create learning opportunities but students would possibly be able to learn remotely. Traetow said school buildings would still be open on those days for students who need to be there.
"The last thing we want to do is inconvenience our families as we try new and innovative things in our school district," Traetow said.
He stressed that students being able to learn asynchronously would allow older students to have job shadowing or volunteering opportunities in the community.
"One thing we've learned in the last couple years, is that regardless of what our opinions are on distance or remote learning, those are still skills our students will need for their future," Traetow said.
The 2022-23 school calendar will be brought to the board for approval at the May 10 school board meeting.