Muscogee County School District 2017-18 calendar is set

Next year’s spring break for public schools in Columbus will be a week later than this year.

That’s the major difference between the 2016-17 calendar and the 2017-18 calendar, which the Muscogee County School Board unanimously approved Tuesday night.

This school year, spring break is March 20-24, but it will be March 26-30 next year.

Another significant difference: Students will be off for Columbus Day while teachers will have professional development then.

School will begin on Aug. 7 in the Muscogee County School District, with teachers reporting on Aug. 1. School began Aug. 8 this school year. The last day of school will be May 22 in 2018. This school year, the last day is May 26.

Students still will get a week off for Thanksgiving.

For the winter break, students will attend class on Dec. 20 then not return until Jan. 8. Counting weekends, that is 18 days away from class. This school year, students were away from class for 21 days.

In 2017-18, students again will be off for Labor Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day.

The board discussed the proposal during last week’s work session. MCSD’s online survey about the proposed calendar attracted 1,660 respondents, assistant superintendent Rebecca Braaten told the board then, and 85 percent strongly agreed (27 percent) or agreed (58 percent) with the proposal.

“There’s never a perfect calendar,” Lewis said then, “but this comes close.”

Kia Chambers, the nine-member board’s lone countywide representative, thanked the administration then “for engaging so many people and allowing their voices to be heard.”

Lewis said during Tuesday night’s meeting that he plans to bring the board in April a recommendation with a similar calendar for the 2018-19 school year.

Staff writer Larry Gierer contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 7:50 PM with the headline "Muscogee County School District 2017-18 calendar is set."