The calendar proposal that includes pre-winter break finals is dead — at least for the 2011-2012 school year.
On Tuesday, the school board will vote on a rollover calendar which features an August 23 start date and finals after winter break. This calendar is identical to the district calendars for the past several years.
“The board is poised to approve the rollover calendar with January finals,” Assistant Superintendent Scott Bowers said.
Two weeks ago, the school board had the opportunity to vote on a calendar with pre-break finals.
Going into the meeting, board members were not in agreement about the calendar. Barb Mitchell and Dana Tom supported it, Camille Townsend opposed it and Barbara Klausner and Melissa Baten-Caswell were still hesitant to decide, according to Klausner, who serves as the board’s president.
After a well-organized group of about 30 community members spoke out against the calendar at the November 23 board meeting, the board declined to vote on the proposal.
“We liked the idea of finals before winter break, but we want to do it right,” Klausner said. “We would like to do it without splitting our community in two.”
Klausner said that at this point the board is not ready to revisit the calendar proposal that it declined to take action on last meeting.
“All board members are in agreement that if we want to do this right we need another year,” Klausner said.
The district is now looking into alternative ways to end first semester before winter break. Among these is an 80-day first semester and 100-day second semester split. However, this proposal would take effect during the 2012-2013 calendar at the earliest.
“We are considering the possibility of uneven semesters,” Bowers said.
Klausner agrees that uneven semester lengths should be considered.
“Uneven semesters would clearly be the best solution if possible,” Klausner said
Bowers said he will begin to seek input on dividing semesters unevenly in January. He is especially concerned about the effect it might have on semester-long courses.
Klausner says that the district will try to communicate actively with parents as it continues to consider changes to the calendar.