BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES 23-24 CALENDAR
The 23-24 School Calendar was approved by the Brenham School Board at their meeting last night, but not before each member discussed it. The biggest change between the current year's calendar and the new one is that students will have three days off for Fair week, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, instead of just Wednesday. It also shifts the Christmas and New Year’s break to December 22nd through January 8th. President of the School Board, Natalie Lange, said she voted against the calendar as a parent on the internet, but would now vote for it because it received the most votes. 58 percent of the people, or 651 chose the calendar over option 2 in a survey of families. The second choice would have dismissed students for the winter break on December 15th and resumed classes on January 3rd. Trustee Kelvin Raven said he felt bad for those parents who would have to pay for Day Care for their kids on the extra holidays. Board Secretary Susan Jenkins said she felt bad for parents who would have to take vacation days to stay home with their kids. She suggested the School District work with local churches to set up temporary day cares for those holidays. The 23 -24 calendar was passed by the board, with only Kelvin Raven dissenting.
Three people from the public spoke before the meeting. They were Pastor Billy Sutherland who spoke for the group Texas Church Leaders. Steve Suders spoke next for no group in particular. He advocated that public education should teach what is morally good, and not divide students. Susanna Leonard spoke last as a concerned parent about the proposed 23-24 school calendar.
The board also approved the Consent Agenda, which contained the Campus Improvement Plan with the ability to update as needed. Those items were discussed at the School Board meeting last Monday. After a closed executive session were the board evaluated Superintendent Dr. Tylor Chaplin, the board took no action. Dr. Chaplin said after the executive session that "he is looking forward to continuing to provide opportunities for our students."
We would like to take this opportunity to address some calendar concerns brought to us during the calendar development process. The Champion Drive event typically takes place on Thursday of Fair Week. Brenham ISD is 100% committed to continuing to support this amazing experience for our students. We have discussed multiple ways to ensure these students continue to get this opportunity. Additionally, the Washington County Fair has been shifted to one week later in September 2023 from the prior year. Our football schedule is set contractually on a 2-year rotation. 2023 will be the second year of that contract which commits us to play a football game that week. In coordination with fair officials, it was determined it would be best to play that week's football game on Thursday to try to avoid any conflicts our students may have with the fair events. That game will be a home game against New Braunfels. If you recall, we traveled to New Braunfels this past September and played them on a Thursday evening.
