PRINCETON -
Students in Mercer County will get a few extra days to enjoy their summer. The school board was considering starting classes on August 13, but decided school for the fall term would start on August 27 instead.
On Tuesday night, the Mercer County Board of Education approved a 2012- school calendar which mandates that teachers begin their term of employment for 2012- 2013 on August 22 and that students return to class on Monday, August 27.
As in recent years, students and teachers will have a Fall Break at Thanksgiving (November 21 - 25), a full week at Christmas (December 22 – Jan. 1), and a full week for Spring Break (March 30 – April 7).
As per the newly-adopted calendar, first semester will end on January 16. Students' last day will be June 12, with teachers finishing up on June 13th.
By law, West Virginia school districts must schedule 180 days of instruction. Teachers' employment term is 200 days per year.
Currently, the state mandates that Mercer County and other mountainous counties traditionally hit hard by winter weather schedule eight non-instructional days after the first of March to be used to compensate for snow days.
"This year, for the first time, there was significant support for the early-start calendar. For many teachers and administrators, the advantage of having more instructional days before WESTEST2 outweighed any resistance to returning to school earlier," said Kellan Sarles, information specialist. "The final vote, however, was 2:1 in favor of the more traditional start date."
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WVNS. All Rights Reserved.
