Supt. Kevin Skelly made the case for a new calendar in which finals would take place before winter break. The board reviews the school calendar every two years, at which point they can elect to make changes. – Alex CarterA split Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education debated the pros and cons of the proposed 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school calendar updates on Tuesday, and plans to vote on the proposal on Nov. 9.

The meeting began with a presentation by Asst. Supt. Scott Bowers, who summarized the changes to the proposed calendar after input on the previous proposal, which had been presented on Sept. 28. To see the updated calendar proposal, click here.

The new schedule would shorten the first semester to 85 days while the second semester would become 95 days in order to accommodate finals before winter break. To achieve this, the schedule also calls for school to start and end one week earlier. Under the current schedule, both semesters are 90 days long, and finals are three weeks after winter break.

The new proposal comes after concerned community members gave their input to the board. According to the report, 428 people responded to the board’s feedback request. Of those, 221 did not support an earlier start date and 85 did support it. Also, 162 supported finals before winter break and 99 did not. The feedback question was open-ended, so the numbers are not exact.

For both sides, the question at hand was how to best reduce stress among PAUSD students.

For the members in favor of the measure, the goal is to eliminate stress during winter break.

“I agree with the objective that was expressed when opening this, which is to have a work-free winter break,” board member Barbara Mitchell said.

Those opposed to the measure are worried about a number of schedule problems that could emerge as a result of the new calendar.

Among the concerns are the impact of the calendar on fall and spring sports, the performing arts, semester-long classes and the finals schedule. Under the new calendar, students would take finals just days before Christmas, on Dec. 22.

The new calendar may cause fall sports to be interrupted by the busy finals schedule before winter break, and spring finals may fall during Central Coast Section competition, according to board members. Students involved in the arts may also be affected by the busy fall semester.

Dr. Bowers said that semester-long classes could be affected by the new schedule, but he also said that he has not yet spoken with all PAUSD staff members.

Board President Barbara Klausner expressed concerns about first semester finals under the new schedule, since there will only be 85 educational days available to teachers.

“The less flexibility we have, the more we are crunching things for our students,” she said.

Board members are also worried that a shorter first semester will cause students to cram their studies for finals.

“If it is our intent to reduce stress, I don’t think the new calendar does it yet,” board member Camille Townsend said.

After board questions and comments, the meeting was opened up to community input. Like the board members, parents who spoke had differing views about the calendar.

“My students are very happy with the current calendar,” Paly parent Sally Kadifa said. “They like having finals after winter break.”

As of Tuesday, the board appears split over the issue, with Townsend, Vice President Melissa Baten-Caswell and Klausner opposed, and Mitchell, Dana Tom and Skelly in support of the new calendar.

“There are pros and cons in the existing calendar, there are pros and cons in the proposed calendar,” Tom said. “That renders this decision particularly grey. There are no universal opinions on this issue.”

The board will meet next on Nov. 9 to vote on this issue.