CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) is back to the drawing board after a Nov. 14 meeting discussing the possibility of longer school days.
CCPS held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss a proposed change to add 15 minutes to school days in order to meet instructional time requirements without making schedules difficult for families. The meeting concluded with the board making the decision to examine more available options to allow the district to meet the requirement.
Chesterfield is the largest school district in central Virginia and currently has the state’s shortest instructional day. The district says the change would help close learning gaps, align better with state requirements and keep the current start date for the next school year.
8News spoke to parents who attended the meeting, many of whom disagreed with the idea of lengthening the school day.
“I feel two ways about it,” CCPS parent Latoya McNeil said. ” I want [students] to have that instruction time, but I also want them to, you know, volunteer in the afternoon, do things that fulfill them in other ways.”
McNeil, the parent of a third-grader and pre-k student, finds getting her children to school on time to be already a hassle. She said she feels for students who would make it home later in the evening if the proposed change went into effect.
“I can’t imagine it being almost 5 p.m. and then you’ve got homework, chores and things that, you know, responsibilities that kids have,” McNeil said.
During the meeting, those in attendance gave suggestions such as using flex time, but all were in agreeance to not take any more time from lunch. The district will ultimately have to make the final decision.
This is a developing story, stay with 8News for updates.
