VIENNA — The Maries R-1 School Board approved changes to the 2022-23 school year calendar at its March 28 meeting.

Superintendent Teresa Messersmith suggested that the board change the calendar to provide a few more days off. The plan will eliminate the half-day on April 6 and the last three days of school, May 15 through May 17. Friday, May 12, is the new last day of school.

The district included 1,107 hours in its calendar for the 2022-2023 school year. The state only requires that schools attend 1,044 hours each year, but the district includes extra hours to accommodate snow days and alternative methods of instruction days that could occur during the year. Now that spring has arrived and the district only used four of its built-in snow days, there is extra time built into the calendar. That would still leave the district with 1,083 hours in the 2022-23 school year.

“I feel like it’s a good compromise for our teachers to go ahead and give them those four days extra off,” Messersmith said.

“You’re forecasting that we’re not going to get any more snow days?” board member Matt Novak joked.

“If something would happen though, Matt, we still have 40 hours there that is a safeguard for us,” Messersmith said.

The Cuba school district announced that it would take six Mondays off through the end of the school year to spend some of the hours from unused snow days. Messersmith said that she would not want to do that.

“My question would be where are the students academically?” board member Kacie James asked. “I have a hard time with taking days away from students that could need the assistance. Don’t get me wrong. I like days off. I would love to give the teachers the days off, too. But my mind always goes back to those students in the classroom and (asking) is this going to be beneficial for them too?”

“Having been a teacher for 17 years, I know that after MAP testing is over, and you’re in that last week of school with those last three days, there is not a lot of educational stuff going on at that point. It’s a lot of fluff. I understand your concern there, as well. I had those thoughts.”

James said that she liked taking away days from the end of the year rather than taking away a day each week.

Board member Dave Garro asked how taking away days from the end of the year would affect the final exam schedule.

“We’ll push them back,” Vienna High School Principal Ian Murray said. He said May 12, the new last day of school, would include afternoon finals to make sure students were attending class on the last day.

James asked if it would affect pay for any of the district’s employees.

“It won’t affect pay,” Messersmith said. “Everybody will get paid the same. That’s another thing to think about. We have cooks. We have bus drivers. We have custodians. All those people will get paid.”