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MOUNDSVILLE -- Marshall County students and faculty will see much the same school year to come as they're currently nearing the end of, under the calendar the Board of Education approved Tuesday evening.
Faculty will begin the year on Aug. 16, with students following a week later on Aug. 23. The fall semester will end on Dec. 21 for students, before returning Jan. 3.
The last day of school is scheduled for May 24. Five make-up days have been allocated, with five remote learning days scheduled if those are exhausted, before additional school days will need to be made up.
The board approved the calendar at the county level after two meetings, during which no one from the public provided comment on the calendar. The calendar requires final approval from the state, which will likely come over the following weeks.
Superintendent Shelby Haines said the faculty of the district -- around 750 people -- were surveyed when formulating the calendar, and that respondents overwhelmingly supported the five remote learning days.
"We did a survey with our faculty and staff, and overwhelmingly, people wanted to continue the five remote days as an option," Haines said. "Five snow days, five remote days, before we have to start taking days back."
The calendar accounts for intermittent professional learning days throughout the year, which are mandated by the state.
Additionally, the board unanimously voted to lay the levy rate for 2023, which was set at 86%. Board president John Miller said though the rate hasn't changed, changes in the tax base mean the board will see about $846,000 less than the previous year.
"It's the same as last year. ... We're getting $846,000 less this coming year, because the tax base is lower. We really can't do anything about lowering it, because we're already getting less money by staying the same," Miller said.
"Our county to the north set theirs at 95%, so we hope the taxpayers will appreciate 86%."
Board member Lori Kestner described the county as "blessed" by the voters who approve the school levy, which allows the district to continue to expand programs in all directions, not just scholastic ones.
"We are so blessed in this county, when we talk about everything we do with the strings program and the classes we offer," Kestner said. "We can't thank the Marshall County community (enough) for supporting our kids all these years, because it gets harder and harder every year."