RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The board of Richmond Public Schools has formally voted to shift the 2022-2023 academic calendar. The school year will now end June 9 in 2023 instead of June 23.
When the Board laid out the original calendar, they did so recognizing that the last two weeks had the district in session later in June than most surrounding counties.
According to the school board, the extended year was intended to accommodate more planning hours for teachers. Parents tell 8News this discrepancy between Richmond Public Schools’ school year and that of other districts like Henrico and Chesterfield County complicated the situation for parents who worked outside of their child’s school district.
RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras agreed that an ideal calendar would be more consistent with neighboring counties for that reason, and said the change comes in response to feedback from the community.
“We, of course, have received a great deal of feedback around the length of the calendar, its impact on teacher morale, student exhaustion — particularly this past year,” Kamras said.
Once they knew a change needed to be made, the board crafted two different options to alter the calendar. The first option would ultimately shave off one week of school in June. The second option would shave off two weeks. Kamras recommended the second option.
“It provides the most relief with only the loss of one student day,” Kamras said.
Seventh District board member Cheryl Burke moved to adopt the second option. The motion passed with a six-to-one vote.
Virginia state code mandates each district’s school year has either 180 instructional days or 990 instructional hours. The new plan falls just below the day requirements, capping off at 178 days of classroom instruction. However, the adjustments do meet the required number of instructional hours.
The second option that the board passed involved re-evaluating various days throughout the school year, which would involve turning some “off” days to in-class days of instruction. A complete list of the updated holidays and wellness, planning and conference days can be found here.
