R-II Board Approves 2022-23 Calendar

From Staff Reports

Members of the Ste. Genevieve R-II Board of Education approved a final 2022-23 calendar and an amended budget for the 2021-22 school year at their regular meeting, Feb. 15.

Dr. Julie Flieg, superintendent of schools, went over the calendar with the board.

The Missouri State High School Activities Association “Dead Period” will be July 30-Aug. 7. First day of school will be Monday, Aug. 22, 2022 and the end of first semester – Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Classes resume Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023.

The last day of school will be Friday, May 19, 2023. There are five scheduled make-up days – May 22 through May 26, 2023. Graduation will be Saturday, May 20, 2023.

A week of possible make-up days for students is shown on the calendar. These days are not included in the total hours of the calendar; these first five snow days would have to be made up at the end of the year. 

This calendar provides for 1,101.5 total hours of student attendance. The state minimum is 1,044. The additional hours allows the district to make up the first five snow days, utilize up to 36 hours of AMI virtual instruction, and then absorb any further snow day hours that would have to be made up.

There are also potential make-up contracted days for employees added at the end of the year, due to inclement weather.

The Calendar Committee reviewed and discussed the responses and suggestions that were submitted in the 2022-2023 School Calendar survey, which totaled 109 survey responses with 32 suggestions. The Committee decided not to incorporate changes to the calendar, as the district has specific parameters we have to meet in terms of starting the first day of school (districts cannot start school more than 14 days before the first Monday in September, per Missouri legislation). Currently, the first semester includes 82 days, or 527 hours of instruction. Second semester includes 89 days, or 574.5 hours of instruction. To make changes to the number of days in the first semester creates a greater imbalance between the two, and would cause the first semester to end in January. The Committee wanted to clarify that the dates included at the end of the school year as potential make-up days for employees are for all employees, in the case that our district has a large amount of snow days and employees would need to make up time. In last year’s Calendar Survey, employees requested that these potential make-up days be included on the calendar. 

Flieg thanked the Calendar Committee for their contributions.

BUDGET AMENDED

The board approved an amended 2021-22 budget, reflecting updated estimates for expenditures and revenues.

“We continue to be more conservative with revenues and more aggressive with expenses,” Flieg said. “That has served the district well, especially as we have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and faced reduced state funding and some other things.”

Total revenues are projected at about $32 million, which includes Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds and ESSER III funds from the federal government. However, Flieg pointed out that Missouri is the only state that has not yet accepted ESSER III funds, and our legislature is running out of time.