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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

After repeated delays, NHC school board approves calendar

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Contention over several calendar options led to the delay in deciding on a traditional school calendar for the 2023-22024 school year.

New Hanover County School Board voted Tuesday to approve next year’s traditional school calendar, one that’s similar to this year’s. The process was beset by months of delays and at-times heated debate.

The vote was 5-2, with Board members Stephanie Walker and Melissa Mason dissenting.

The winning calendar option ends the semester in January, which was unpopular with some teachers and parents.

Related: NHC school board postpones calendar decision again

Related: NHC school board debates change to 2022-2023 academic calendar

However, the other calendar option, which did end the semester in December, would make the semesters unequal by 19 days.

Board member Josie Barnhart said unbalanced semesters would be unfair to teachers and contribute to learning loss.

“At large, it’s going to be the biggest disconnect with our already lowest learners," she said.

Support for the uneven calendar partly stemmed from wanting to align with community college calendars, so high schoolers in dual enrollment wouldn’t have issues.

Parents also voiced concerns that students had trouble remembering class instruction from December for their exams in January.

District staff said Cape Fear Community College was willing to work with them to address any issues that arise for dual enrollment students.

The board will discuss calendars for non-traditional schools, such as year-round, at the next board meeting.

Grace is a multimedia journalist recently graduated from American University. She's attracted to issues of inequity and her reporting has spanned racial disparities in healthcare, immigration detention and college culture. In the past, she's investigated ICE detainee deaths at the Investigative Reporting Workshop, worked on an award-winning investigative podcast, and produced student-led video stories.