Schools officials will again consider changes to the school calendar that include starting classes in August, extending the Thanksgiving break to a full week and ending the first semester prior to the winter break.
The recommendations about possible restructuring of the school year will be presented at a 5:30 p.m. school board study session that is open to the public Thursday, April 12.
A similar revision to the school calendar was rescindedin 2013 due to a backlash by parents, who say they weren’t consulted. At the time, union officials suggested the longer Thanksgiving break to avoid high absenteeism.
Last year, the school board directed staff to convene a committee to explore calendar shifts for the 2019-20 school year.
The committee consisting of teachers, staff, parents, and city officials studied the issue over the last six months, says a district announcement.
Anakaren Ureno, a district spokeswoman, said the recommendations under discussion also include adding three non-student days to the school year and ending school a week earlier.
The universities have already led the way into pushing Summer Vacation effectively back to being Late Spring Vacation – May, June, and July are the vacation months, unless you’re lucky enough to be on the quarter system. Is this how we want to think of it? We all know that the three months of climatic summer in places like Laguna are July, August, and September. I’d as soon have year round school. The kids won’t forget as much.
The last paragraphs that “the school board directed staff to convene a committee” and that the committee consisted of “teachers, staff, parents and city officials” is misleading. Outside of the committee, which wasn’t equally represented among the four schools, school staff was not aware of this. Boys and Girls Club, which provides childcare for many of our students and would be a valuable stake holder, was also not included.
Thank you.
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