VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — School calendars are important to Amanda Yarborough not only because she's a Virginia Beach school parent but also because she's an ESL teacher in the district.
The school board has yet to vote on a new calendar. A final vote is expected at a special meeting Tuesday.
"I hope they have a calendar soon," Yarborough told News 3's Jay Greene. "We're really looking for the two weeks at Christmastime and for the day before Thanksgiving break."
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One option would bring students back before Labor Day, giving teachers workdays through the year.
Yarborough said it gives teachers more support throughout the year.
"We don't expect kids to learn everything just one time and they're able to do it the whole school year," Yarborough said. "Teachers do professional development throughout the whole school year."
Another option brings students back after Labor Day. It also gives teachers eight workdays at the beginning of the year.
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Trenace Riggs, a former teacher and a Virginia Beach School Board member for District 1 (Centreville), called the post-Labor Day option "a waste."
She would rather have work days during the year.
"I need those days for staff days during the year to prepare for my kids when I have them when I know who they are," Riggs told Greene.
On Tuesday night, members of the Virginia Beach Educators Association voiced their thoughts during the school board's regular meeting.
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"Eight staff days before school starts...this is disgusting," one educator said before the board. "Does the school board think we are so ill prepared?"
The association was disappointed the board did not include any of its recommended calendar that had more than 1,400 hours of instruction for post-Labor Day and pre-Labor Day options.
The VBEA sent News 3 the following statement Thursday night.
The VBEA and its members want a calendar that is respectful to the needs of educators. The School Board is fully aware of how challenging the VBCPS curriculum is and the fact that our students do so well is a credit to our educators. A calendar with no staff days at the quarter and semester changes is not reasonable or respectful. It means that educators would have to work even more hours outside of those 200 days that are contracted. That means things like completing grades and report cards, meeting for parent-teacher conferences, and preparing for the next quarter or setting up classes for 2nd semester --would all have to be done off contract hours. I don't know how all that is possible. This is one of the reasons educators need to have a seat at the table to negotiate a contract that allows them to have a voice in the way time is scheduled. Educators are more than dedicated to helping all our students excel but we have to stop asking them to sacrifice a reasonable work-life balance to do that.
