Some community members want to add days back to the Galesburg school year.
The group Restore 174 wants the school district to add six days that were removed as part of the settlement agreement from the teachers’ strike.
The current schedule has 168 scheduled school days.
Group members told the Board of Education this week that the lost days will not only hurt the quality of education, but will also affect students who rely on free and reduced meals.
“If someone asked me ‘Do you support the strike enough to let your kids miss six days of a good breakfast and lunch?,' the answer would be ‘No, I don’t,'" said spokesperson Emily Anderson.
Superintendent Bart Arthur said the district estimates two-thirds of its students are on free and reduced meal plans.
Board members did not respond to the concerns during the meeting, and Arthur said it's unlikely the six days would be restored.
