Knox County Schools is proposing changes to its scheduled early release days, starting as soon as next week.
The calendar is already published for the school year that starts Aug. 8, but administrators and school board members could move to four half-days over the academic year instead of six early release days.
That means the Aug. 14 and Jan. 22 early release times would go away and students would learn on a regular schedule those days.
If approved, the remaining days with different release times ‒ which could be turned into half-days ‒ would be Sept. 18, Nov. 20, Feb. 12 and March 26.
On early release days, pre-K students are dismissed at 11:15 a.m., grades K-5 are dismissed at 12:30 p.m. and grades 6-12 are dismissed at 1:30 p.m.
On half-days, dismissal is at 11:15 a.m. for kindergarten through grade 5, noon for grades 6-12, except 1 p.m. at Career Magnet Academy and L&N STEM Academy. For half-day dismissal at pre-K programs, parents should communicate directly with teachers.
The proposed changes would eliminate two days with early pickup times to minimize disruptions for families, Assistant Superintendent of Academics Keith Wilson told the Knox County Board of Education on Aug. 5.
The board will consider a possible vote on the proposal at its 5 p.m. Aug. 8 meeting at 500 W. Summit Hill Drive in Knoxville.
A printable copy of the Knox County Schools 2024-25 calendar, which could change, is online now.
Knox County Schools surveyed stakeholders on early release days
Knox County Schools’ early release days format was launched in 2022 as a two-year experiment. The hours without students were designed to give teachers and principals time for lesson planning and organization. Administrators surveyed parents on whether they’re disruptive and staffers on whether they’re useful.
Here’s what the survey found:
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The response rate was higher than usual, Kori Lautner, assistant superintendent of strategy, told the school board Aug. 5. Over 10,500 families out of about 60,000 students responded and more than half of the district’s principals responded as well.
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Across all three stakeholder groups – parents, staff and principals – there was strong support to continue early release days, Lautner said. Some respondents asked to continue early release days with changes.
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A majority of parents who responded to the survey – about 41% – said early release days do not pose any challenges for their family. A little less than 26% of respondents said they face significant challenges including transportation problems, disruptions to their routine and afterschool care.
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Families, staff and principals said the option to have two full days off was preferred over other options: the current model of six early release days, four half-days off, no early release days and no opinion either way.
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Staff and principals prefer using early release days for lesson planning, preparation and collaboration with colleagues.
Areena Arora, data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @AreenaArora and on Instagram @areena_news.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Schools calendar change could alter early release days
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