As we turn the page on the 2023 calendar, it is time for us at Cassville R-IV School District to begin preparing for our academic calendar for the 2024-2025 school year.

Five years ago, our state legislators voted to require the school start date to be no earlier than 14 days prior to the first Monday in September. This means our earliest start date for the 2024-2025 school year cannot be earlier than Monday, Aug. 19, 2024.

The annual setting of the school calendar factors in many considerations. Some of the items to ponder are: the schedules of our area colleges/ universities and Scott Regional Technology Center (we have students in dual enrollment classes, technical training courses, etc.), the opening day of Trout Season on March 1, the number of days needed for teachers to be able to train and collaborate, the impact our calendar has on student meals and parent work schedules, and how long breaks should be around holidays.

In addition to these local factors, districts are required to attend at least 1044 hours per school year. We have no problem reaching those hours. During the present 2023-2024 school year, our students are scheduled to attend 164 days and log over 1092 hours.

Building extra hours into the school calendar helps us avoid being required to make-up all hours missed due to inclement weather. These extra hours were intentionally placed into the calendar with the anticipation that we will miss a few days due to inclement weather. This assumption is the reason our last day of school on May 17 could be adjusted to an earlier date if minimal or no days are missed due to weather. This same “extra hours” concept will likely be applied to the 2024-2025 academic calendar.

In the past, we had a calendar committee composed of a variety of stakeholders from across the community. Members included parents, administrators, teachers, the transportation director, and community/business leaders. Staff members from across the district provided input to the calendar committee through surveys and open dialogue.

The committee members discussed all known factors and deliberated about how the calendar should meet the goals of the district. They eventually voted on a calendar to present to the school board last spring.

These same stakeholders, along with others interested in the process, will be contacted to determine the need to conduct a similar calendar committee process in the coming weeks.

The Board of Education is scheduled to approve the 2024-2025 academic calendar at the February 15 meeting. We are hopeful this approval will give families enough time to start making plans prior to and during the 2024-2025 school year.

In addition, the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) should also have their calendars set, so we can establish our “dead” week for summer activities. It will be time to start scheduling those summer excursions before long.

If you ever have questions about our present and future calendars, please reach out. Our number one purpose for the school calendar is to match our goals for providing students the best education we can; however, we also try to consider how it impacts families and working parents.

As we begin the year 2024, it makes us think more about the passing of time. In a recent conversation, someone mentioned to me that during the year 2024 we are the same distance away from 2054 as we are from 1994.

For those of us old enough to remember 1994, I’ll let you ponder that for a while. Here is to wishing you all a wonderful 2024 — regardless of how young you may be.

Merlyn Johnson is the superintendent of the Cassville school district. He may be reached at mjohnson@cassville.k12.mo.us.