The Knox County Board of Education took action on Monday night to amend the upcoming school calendar. Discussion followed by the decision was part of the Board’s June regularly scheduled meeting.
The new start date for Knox County students will be Monday, August 24, 2020.
“As we continue to progress and look at the startup of school next year,” said Superintendent Sprinkles, “we would like to move the start of school from August 6 to August 24.”
“This will allow us some time to plan and work on a re-entry option,” Sprinkles continued.
The change to the calendar will allow teachers to have 11 workdays, before and during the year. The additional days will allow teachers to make adjustments to their pacing of teaching standards, including providing time to review content during non-traditional instruction in the spring. If the district was forced to temporarily close or change the way students learn at any point in the year, this would allow teachers to make changes to their teaching method whether it is online or a blend of in-class and online.
“We feel that we get many benefits by doing this delayed start,” said Sprinkles. “We will still have the fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and tentative spring break.”