The first semester at Lisbon Schools will conclude at holiday break for the 2023-24 school year.
That’s according to an updated draft of the school calendar presented at the February meeting. The board held discussion on the calendar at January’s school board meeting.
Secondary principal Jack Leighty had talked with other schools in the Tri-Rivers Conference to see how they handled the first semester. Many of the districts reported they concluded their semesters with a more lopsided approach (more days of education in the second semester than the first).
“By the time we figure in the amount of time lost to Iowa School Assessment of Student Performance tests, snow days and other disruptions in second semester, it’s not the end of the world if those semesters are just a few days longer,” Leighty said. “It’s better for learning for our students if holiday break serves as the end of that first semester.”
Superintendent Autumn Pino said she is working with staff to help fine tune other elements of the calendar, primarily when school conferences will be held and some professional development days.
“The rest of the calendar looks pretty much the same as this year, we’re just ironing out to make sure we meet the contractual teaching and professional development days,” Pino said.
Teacher Ashley Resor asked if the administration had thought of how that might impact grading, pushing grading onto the holiday break for teachers.
Pino said that was something currently being discussed.
“I appreciate that we took time to look at this, as it’s something that gets brought up with every school calendar,” said board president Jen Caspers.