NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: June 9, 2020
JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) has partnered with a workgroup of nine superintendents from a diverse range of school districts to outline the key issues districts need to address to reopen schools. The issues are outlined in the document, Considerations for Reopening Mississippi Schools, which presents a three-month timeline of strategies for school leaders to consider to plan for the start of the 2020-21 school year.
The document is intended to be used as a resource and starting point for districts to consider local needs in collaboration with stakeholders. It will be updated in three-month intervals to adjust to changes with the COVID-19 outbreak.
Local school districts are responsible for designing school schedules that best meet the needs of their communities. School calendars, including the first and last day of school and school holidays, are set at the district level.
State law requires schools to provide 180 days of instruction each school year.
The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) will consider several policies at its regularly scheduled June meeting to give local school districts scheduling flexibility for the 2020-21 school year to deal with the impact of COVID-19. The SBE meeting will be held at 10 a.m. June 11. The meeting can be viewed via livestream at msachieves.mdek12.org.
Media Contact:
Patrice Guilfoyle, APR
Director of Communications
601-359-3515
pguilfoyle@mdek12.org
Jean Cook, APR
Director of Public Relations
601-359-3515
jcook@mdek12.org