Florida school district considering 'year-round' classes to address learning loss, teacher burnout

VIERA, Fla. - Summer break could be a thing of the past at Brevard Public Schools (BPS). The school board is considering a "year-round" model to help with learning loss and teacher burnout. 

BPS isn’t alone, as schools across the country are looking for new ways to help students make up for setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic. The number of schools across the nation that have gone to a year-round model is up, from about 2% in 2018 to 4% in 2020. 

The Brevard school board chair says she grew up on a year-round schedule and wants to bring it back to the country. 

"I went to year-round school here in Brevard County, so I’m a huge fan of it," said Megan Wright, who spearheaded the initial conversation on Tuesday. 

Wright says a year-round model could help recruit and retain teachers if there are more breaks throughout the year and thinks families will have more flexibility.

"You have the ability to travel different times of the year, and it’s not when it’s complexly packed and super expensive," she added. 

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Kids would still be in class the same number of days. Instead of a long summer break, there would be several shorter breaks. Parents are divided on the calendar shift. 

"I think they should vote for it. I think it would be better off for the kids," said Mike Hazelwood who’s particularly worried about how far behind kids fell during the pandemic. 

"I don’t see excitement when I think year-round school," added Kelly Kervin who has two daughters in the district. 

The mom is also worried about working parents.  

"I worry about families who would struggle with finding childcare for those gaps," said Kervin. 

At Tuesday’s school board work session, some board members wanted more information about how sports would work and wanted to poll the community before moving forward.

The board asked the superintendent to draft a calendar on what the schedule would be like and said they’re open to trying something new. 

"Right now, we see that our students have this summer slide, they come back, and we’re spending a month trying to catch them up on things that they have forgotten," Wright concluded. 

Nothing has been voted on, and the potential calendar shift is still in the very early stages of discussion.