ELKINS– After examining several proposals, the Randolph County Board of Education has voted to approve a school calendar for the 2021-22 school year.

This fall, students in Randolph County will return to school Aug. 24 for full-time, in-person instruction. The final day of the first semester will fall on Jan. 18, 2022 and the final day of instruction for students will fall on June 3, 2022.

Rachel Anger, board member, emphasized the difficultly in finding a calendar to meet the needs of every party, adding the approved calendar is the best compromise.

“I think this calendar is a compromise. It doesn’t make anybody incredibly happy because it seems like elementary wants the exact opposite as secondary,” she said.

Anger went on to say she is unhappy with parts of the approved calendar.

“I like that there is a spring break, and I think that it is needed. I hate the fact that the semester doesn’t end before Christmas; I think that that puts a lot of stress on families who might want to travel or just not stress about school work over their vacation time,” she said. “I would like to see, next year, going back to our more traditional schedule where we end before Christmas, have a spring break and start along with the colleges.”

Lisa Wamsley, board president, and Amanda Smith, board member spoke in agreement with Anger, saying that in the future they would prefer a calendar where the first semester ends before Christmas break.

“The reality is our kids still miss out on some instructional time,” Wamsley said. “With testing, too, it’s nice to have that semester over with by Christmas break — testing out of the way and getting to come back and start fresh.”

Students will have Thanksgiving break Nov. 22-26; winter break Dec. 22-31; and spring break April 18-22.

An outline of the school calendar for the 2021-22 school year can be seen at: https://go.boarddocs.com/wv/rand/Board.nsf/files/C24RN56C345A/$file/2021-22%20School%20Calendar%20No.%203.pdf.

Also, near the end of the BOE meeting, Melodee Price, board member, asked county officials when a proposal regarding Elkins High School football would be brought before the board.

In response, Brad Smith, director of finance for Randolph County Schools, said information about this topic would be presented to the board during the upcoming regular meeting on May 4.

He noted a presentation will be offered, along with documents, figures and reference letters.

Price asked whether the board would review the proposal and vote on it during the May 4 meeting.

Smith said the “hope” is to “do it all in one night.”