The Sulphur Springs ISD 2022-2023 school calendar was approved this week on a 6-1 vote of the school board, with trustee John Prickette citing a need for more classroom instructional days when voting against the calendar as proposed.
The calendar is very similar to the 2021-2022 school instructional calendar, with one noted exception. Staff preparation and work days will be on Mondays instead of Fridays, according to Sulphur Springs ISD Superintendent Michael Lamb, who said campus committees had reviewed proposed calendar and made recommendations prior to it being submitted for board approval on March 7, 2022.
As was the case in the past year, the calendar has the bell ringing for the start of classes at 7:50 a.m., and the tardy bell ringing at 8 a.m. Monday-Friday during the 2022-2023 school year at SSISD. The school day will end at 3:30 p.m. for all campuses. That gives the district 460 minutes in class daily during regular days, and 310 minutes on early release days. The first 10 minutes of the day are before the tardy bell rings, but do count toward the district’s overall count, which meets requirements, Lamb noted.
The district plans to apply for a waiver for 5 staff training days. With the longer school days, the district banks time. Overall, that’s 9 earned days. Counting teacher days, that’s 187 days in the school calendar, 21 that are teacher training days. With waivers and school teacher days, that leaves 175 student days.
“This has too few students days and too many teacher training days. I do not think this is the right calendar for our district. We are 4-5 days under other districts around. Kids need to be in class,” Prickette said during the regular March meeting of Sulphur Springs ISD Board of Trustees, held Monday evening, March 7, 2022.
The district this year had 5.7 banked days, which means the district has already put in five days and won’t have to request a waiver for the 5 days missed due to inclement weather and COVID in the past couple of months. The district is currently 15 minutes shy of completely making up that time, Lamb noted. Those minutes should be made up by the end of the year during the regular school day. So having the longer school days, from 7:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, has paid off.
Staff days would be Mondays, Sept. 26, Oct. 10, Nov. 7, Nov. 28, Feb. 13, March 20, April 10 and May 15, as well as Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 2-3, 2023. This would give teachers a day after Thanksgiving holiday, two days after Christmas break day, and a day after spring break, as well as a day between the four grading periods for teacher training and staff preparation.
New teachers would report for orientation Aug. 2-3, 2022, with the rest of the staff reporting for the 2022-2023 for back to school preparation days Aug. 4-5, Aug. 8-12, and Aug. 15-16. Teacher too would report for duty May 25-26, two days after classes are dismissed for students for the spring semester. This would put end the school year before Memorial Day.
Students will report for the first day of classes on Aug. 17, and the last day of school will be May 24, 2023, with graduation Friday, My 26, 2023 for the Senior Class of 2023.
The first 9-weeks grading period would end end Oct. 7, 2022. The second would span Oct. 11-Dec. 16, the third Jan. 4-March 10, 2023, and the fourth March 21-May 24.
Holidays for students and staff will be Labor Day, Sept. 5, 2022; Fall Festival, Oct. 21, 2022; Thanksgiving break, Dec. 19-30, 2022; Christmas break, Dec. 19-30, 2022; Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 16, 2023; NETLA Day, Feb. 24, 2023, to allow students to participate in and support family and friends showing livestock projects in the show; spring break, March 13-17, 2023; Good Friday, April 7, 2023; and Memorial Day, May 29, 2023.
Designated as early release days are Friday, Nov. 18 (the last class day before Thanksgiving break); Friday, Dec. 16 (the last class day before Christmas break); and May 24 (the last day of school). Early release days will begin at 7:50 a.m. as usual but classes will end at 1 p.m. on these three days.
The district will observe summer hours, with school offices closed on Fridays in July 2022 and beginning June 9, 2023.
A copy of the SSISD 2022-2023 instructional school calendar may be viewed and download from the school website, www.ssisd.net, and clicking on the calendar menu on the main page.
