PENDER COUNTY — Pender County Schools’ scores have not completely rebounded from Covid-19 and the administration has set its sights on the 2026 school calendar as a possible cause.
READ MORE: Commissioners approve $1.3M boost for bus drivers, radios in Pender County Schools
A massively overhauled calendar proposal first discussed by the school board on Feb. 3 went unreported outside of discussion on social media, overshadowed by the splashy news from another board on the same day: approval of $1.3 million by the Pender County Board of Commissioners to help the schools increase bus driver pay and purchase new equipment.
But also at that meeting, the district drafted calendars for the 2026-2027 school year that would both expand the number of school days and balance them between the two semesters. However, the start of the second semester — and first-semester exams — would be pushed to mid-January as a result.
Pender County Schools’ calendar for the upcoming school year has nine fewer days in the first semester than the second and 169 days total in the classroom. Any of the three drafts for 2026, if adopted, would push the number of days in each semester closer together. Two of the drafts would increase the number of school days by seven, and the third by five.
The Feb. 3 meeting was for the school board’s “Committee of the Whole,” its jargon for meetings to review agenda items ahead of its regular board meetings when it takes action. At the time Chair Beth Burns said to say the board received a lot of feedback on the issue since the agenda was posted online would be an understatement and it would be the board’s first difficult decision of the year.
Superintendent Brad Breedlove told the board increasing the number of school days would bring the district closer to its number of instructional days before the pandemic. The district cut its average number of school days from 181 to about 167 in the wake of Covid-19. School districts have to meet a minimum number of instruction hours or days of school each year, and the change would put PCS well over the minimum hours.
Breedlove noted, with the sharp decline in school days after the pandemic, if a student attends PCS for grades K-12 today, they will spend a full school year less in the classroom than prior to the pandemic. He said the data on whether more or longer days in school improves outcomes across the board is inconclusive, but he believes more days is in the best interest of the students in Pender County.
“As you know, not all school systems are the same,” Breedlove said. “There’s so many factors that are involved, and most of it comes with wealth of a district — poor, or very wealthy —and it’s very hard to compare apples to oranges.”
The board talked about the calendar again at its Feb. 25 meeting and Breedlove brought more information to present on the issue. He ran through data showing declines in test scores for grades K-8 in every subject when comparing the 2018-2019 school year to 2024-2025. High school scores have mostly rebounded.
The move would not be out of line with how many other districts in the state design their calendars. New Hanover County Schools already gives exams in mid-January, along with 41 other districts, though it spent many meetings in recent years trying to accommodate calls to have exams pre-Christmas break. Pender followed the same pattern before the pandemic as well.
Breedlove said there are 31 districts which test in December like PCS, 12 of them western North Carolina districts with waivers to start classes a week early. About 30 districts openly defy the state calendar law and start two weeks early to avoid unbalanced semesters while still allowing Christmas break to serve as the divider between the two.
The law, heavily advocated for by the state’s tourism industry, is the reason school districts make what appear to be strange decisions with calendars each year. The earliest date schools can start is the Monday closest to Aug. 26, and they must wrap up by the Friday closest to June 11. A growing number of districts have decided to ignore the law and risk litigation — as the law as written does not stipulate repercussions — because their boards believe it runs afoul of what is best for students. Breedlove did not suggest breaking the law.
The superintendent also made the point to the board that the drafts attempt to scatter more teacher workdays throughout rather than cramming most of them into two week blocks at the beginning and end of the school year. He also noted he discussed the calendar with Cape Fear Community College President Jim Morton and was assured the community college provides flexibility for high school students taking its classes when their public school schedules do not align perfectly.
Assistant Superintendent Kevin Taylor went over feedback collected from school staff since the Feb. 3 meeting. He told the board key priorities were optimizing workdays, minimizing disruptions to high school schedules. There was mixed feedback on whether to place spring break later in the year or to align it with CFCC’s calendar.
Updated drafts will be shown to the board at its March 11 regular meeting.
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