Manatee County students to make up educational time lost from hurricanes

Students in the School District of Manatee County missed eight school days as a result of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

As a result, the School Board of Manatee County unanimously approved changes to this year's academic calendar to make up the time lost. 

Superintendent Jason Wysong said there are multiple state requirements in which the district needs to comply, and the state has not waived any instructional requirements due to the impacts of the hurricanes. 

Wysong said the three days during the week of Thanksgiving were not sufficient time to make up the lost classroom time, so the district devised a new plan.

"We talked about what was best for students from a learning perspective, and then we talked about what's best for families based on the stakeholder feedback we were receiving. We also talked about what are the impacts to employee groups," Wysong said. 

The changes to the calendar are as follows: 

• Nov. 6, which was a previously an early release day, will not be a full attendance day. 
• Nov. 11, which previously was a day day off due to Veterans Day, is now a full school day.
• Dec. 18-20, which were previously scheduled high school early release dates, will now be full attendance days. 
• Jan. 6 and March 5, which were previously early release days, now will be a full attendance days. 
• March 7 and March 14 now will be early release days. They were previously full student attendance days.
• March 24 was previously a scheduled record day, meaning students were not in attendance, but now students will be in school.

On top of the date changes, bell schedules at select high schools, including but not limited to Braden River and Palmetto high schools, will be modified to increase class periods by 1 to 2 minutes. Wysong said those modifications will not alter arrival or dismissal times.

The last day for high school seniors also will be modified based on the number of instructional minutes needed at each campus, but it will not impact graduation dates. 

"In my opinion, we have added quality time back into the calendar so that we can move forward with our assurance to families that children are getting the reading, math, science, and social studies instruction they need to make that learning gain," Wysong said. 

With these changes, Wysong said the district's Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks will not be altered. 

Board members Richard Tatem, Mary Foreman and Cindy Spray said although the initial academic calendar had three days scheduled during the week of Thanksgiving as hurricane make-up days, the changes were made due to extenuating circumstances. 

"Early on in the discussion, Dr. Wysong was very aware that people need a break," Foreman said. "We're all stressed and have been through a lot with the hurricanes and to take away a part of that week, some families already have out-of-town commitments and probably wouldn't even be at school, so you're losing academic days. I think it was a wise decision, and I hope everyone has a very nice Thanksgiving week."

Derek Jensen, the deputy superintendent of instruction, said schools will be encouraging patriotism and recognizing veterans on Nov. 11 by asking students to wear red, white and blue that day. School uniform requirements will be suspended Nov. 11. 

Classroom lessons on Nov. 11 will comply with a state instructional statute that requires lessons that recognize the sacrifices of veterans. 

"Because we'll have a unique opportunity this year on Veterans Day to engage in those topics, we thought it'd be a wonderful opportunity to encourage patriotism and recognize we have so many veterans who have served on board, who are employed in this district. or who are in our community," Jensen said. 

Students who participate in Veterans Day parades and community events will be "field tripped" out of school or excused to allow them to continue to participate in the events.