Milton School District officials said Monday the district will apply for a waiver to start the 2023-24 school year Tuesday, Aug. 29, instead of Friday, Sept. 1.
It鈥檚 a move administrators said they hadn鈥檛 tried to make in 鈥渞ecent years鈥 but that it is necessary to address lagging student achievement since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Ryan Ruggles told the school board Monday. According to state statute, districts may only start their academic years before Sept. 1 to address negative educational impacts.
District Superintendent Rich Dahman said the move will not add instructional days to the district鈥檚 calendar and that it will be just for 鈥渇ront-loading instruction.鈥 He also said it allows for more flexibility in scheduling.
鈥淚t鈥檚 to avoid starting on Friday and redo all those routines the following Tuesday after a three-day weekend,鈥 Ruggles said.
To support the decision, Ruggles cited some 鈥渁reas to improve鈥 in the district鈥檚 recent state report card data, including target group outcomes under 鈥渁chievement.鈥 The district scored a 21.3, meaning the gap between the highest-achieving students and the lowest-achieving students is widening.
Ruggles said starting the year three days earlier would help the district address social-emotional learning, provide earlier learning interventions as needed and keep summer school enrollment.
The district could put three extra days onto the end of the school year, Ruggles said, but he and other administrators preferred having more days between the end of the school year and the start of summer school.
Ruggles said the district鈥檚 administrative team creates a mock district calendar and that the process would not include bringing a final calendar to the school board. School Board President Joe Martin said calendar approval has varied between the board and administration. Martin did not request a calendar to come back to the board for approval.
Dahman said that if the waiver is denied, district administrators will discuss starting the school year Tuesday, Sept. 5.