By Hayden Seder
The Blaine County School District Board of Trustees recently approved a new three-year calendar to take effect in the 2019-2020 school year. After much input on two different options, the board voted to change the school year start date to Aug. 19 and end May 22. This is a significant change from the 2018-2019 school year starting Aug. 28-June 6.
A calendar committee met seven times over the course of 10 months to develop the calendar options for the next three years. The committee was comprised of educators from each school in the district as well as parents and community members. It used seven guiding principles provided by the board to guide the options they drafted.
Those principles were to maximize student learning by providing significant stretches of uninterrupted weeks for learning and teaching; maximize student attendance to support student learning; propose a calendar that provides support for the board’s priority of closing the achievement gap; propose a calendar that supports student participation in a wide range of school-related activities, including competitions, extracurricular programs, dual-credit opportunities, etc.; ensure that the calendar meets the Idaho Statutes, including 33-1009 and 33-512; and, finally, to recognize the importance of professional development for staff. The calendar will be done in a three-year cycle.
With these guidelines in mind, the committee developed two calendar options and shared a survey, which got 1,757 responses.
The first option, which was ultimately voted on, had school year dates of Aug. 19-May 22, and the second option a later start with dates of Aug. 26-May 29.
One calendar would enable the first semester to be completed before winter break and the other would be more similar to the current calendar, with the first semester ending after the winter break.
The survey indicated an overall preference for option two, with a later start date. A total of 486 school staff members completed the survey and were split 50/50 between the options. While students preferred option one, parents preferred option two, and community members preferred option one.
The two options were developed by looking at calendar patterns that resulted in good attendance or poor attendance. The committee also discussed the possibility of lengthening the school day in order to shorten the school year while still meeting state statute requirements for instructional time.
The two options were reviewed by the committee and staff multiple times to ensure that they provided slightly more than the number of instructional minutes required by the state (a slight overage provides flexibility for snow days, etc.) and aligned with the master agreement of 185 working days for certificated staff. The calendars were also reviewed for number of short weeks, alignment of parent-teacher conferences, and opportunities for professional development for staff.
The board voted at a Dec. 11 meeting for option one. Many parents of students in the Blaine County School District have expressed outrage at the option that was chosen and have started circulating petitions on Facebook.
“The survey was intended to provide feedback on the options—it was not a vote,” said Heather Crocker, spokesperson for the Blaine County School District. “The Trustees are the ones who vote on the calendar and they have many factors to consider, including their focus on closing the achievement gap for students.”