Orangeburg County School District: School may start on Aug. 7; proposal calls for teachers to return July 31

Orangeburg County School District teachers will report to school at the end of July under the proposed calendar for the 2023-2024 school year.

The school district’s calendar for the upcoming school year has teachers returning Monday, July 31 and students returning Monday, Aug. 7.

The next school year would end May 29 under the calendar. All holidays and school breaks would be the same as in the current year.

School board trustees gave the calendar first reading at their Tuesday board meeting.

Dr. William O’Quinn cast the lone vote in opposition, expressing his concerns that it is too early for teachers to report and that the district has not had teachers reporting in July in the past.

“It is just hard for me to believe that teachers want to go back to school in July, which is basically what some of them will have to do,” O’Quinn said.

He’s concerned that teachers may already have plans to be away through early August, not thinking they would have to report in July.

He questioned why teachers were not presented a calendar that had them returning on Aug. 7 and students on Aug. 14. In the current school year, teachers returned Aug. 8 and students returned Aug. 15.

OCSD Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster explained that the S.C. Department of Education has expressed a desire to balance semesters.

The state would like to see the first semester end by December, with the second semester starting in January, he said. As it is currently, the first semester ends Jan. 13.

“I believe many of the teachers and counselors, they appreciated being able to maximize the instructional time because actually second semester is quite a lot shorter,” Foster said. “When we checked with the state department, they said you have to balance those semesters more evenly because you have testing at the end of the year in May which takes up a lot of time, so it gives our teachers and actually our students for second semester more instructional time before we break down for testing.”

The calendar was created with the input of current and past district teachers of the year and employee support persons of the year and runner-ups.

Three calendar options were voted upon by district employees.

The one with teachers reporting back in July received the most votes.

About 40.2 percent of employees approved the proposed calendar, compared to other alternatives which received 34 percent and 26 percent approval.

About 942 individuals responded to the calendar survey, which was above the average in past years of 550 to 600 individuals participating, District Ombudsman Dr. Jesse Washington said.

Foster said the calendar that received 34 percent approval had teachers reporting back to school Aug. 1.

In related matters, trustee Mary Ulmer expressed concerns about the bell schedule at schools – specifically Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.

“We have too many kids coming to the school late,” Ulmer said.

Trustee Idella Carson echoed Ulmer’s concerns.

Foster noted O-W starts school later than any other school in the district at 8:55 a.m., with other high schools starting at 8 a.m. or 8:30 a.m.

He said parents of O-W students need to be notified about that fact.

Foster did note that some students may not have a first period course.

Ulmer noted the on-time arrival also refers to school administration as well.