We received many questions on this issue such as:

Question 1 – Next year’s calendar has some troublesome issues:
1. By starting so late that gives Granite teachers less instruction time than Canyons, Alpine, Provo, Salt Lake or Jordan school districts. This puts teachers at a real disadvantage to the other school districts. Provo and Salt Lake have a two week head start on Granite. This calendar is detrimental to obtaining optimum teaching results. It’s even more of a concern since our CRT scores, AP scores, IB scores are now published in the paper. Does this calendar really help our “failing schools and school district”?

2. What in the world are we supposed to do with our students for two weeks after Memorial Day? It’s difficult when CRT’s and AP exams are completed by the 2nd week of May. IB exams continue into the third week of May. We’ve covered the text book and finished our exams. Of course we can continue to find educational activities but the students know we have completed the course and Memorial Day signals the start of summer vacation.

3. We’ve put our high school students at a real disadvantage when it comes to finding a summer job. Granite students are out of school June 7th. Their “competition” is out by Memorial Day- again, a one or two week head start for the other school district.

I’m starting to wonder if this is a calendar based on the educational needs of our students or a means to provide cheap babysitting for two weeks. Why do we continue to base our calendar as if our pioneer heritage is in full force and we need to plant and harvest the crops with the extended vacation in August? One of the district goals is to prepare students for the 21st century. I think it’s time our school calendar revolved around testing and performance needs rather than three month summer vacations.

Yes, I know we vote on the calendar but I really doubt the educational consequences of the calendar are made known to parents. I’ve talked with them, I’ve interviewed my classes- all they look at is Winter and Spring recess. At a minimum could we publish the pro’s and con’s of each calendar when we vote in the future?

Question 2 – It may be too late to change the schedule for 2013, but starting later makes the job of an AP teacher even harder than it already is. We already lose a month of teaching time on the regular schedule – on the 2013 schedule we will lose almost a month and a half. We need to teach the entire curriculum, teach the students to write, give them time to practice writing (both essays and DBQs) and still have about 2 weeks of review time before the first week in May. Also, leaving that much time after AP testing, IB testing, Concurrent testing makes for very restless students. In short, for many reasons, I am asking (and hoping) that you rethink next year’s schedule. Is it possible to have a schedule that starts earlier in August and ends the week BEFORE Memorial Day? Using the week before Memorial Day to close out school and graduate just seems to make the most sense.

Question 3 – Granite School District is doing wonderful! But the problem i have is. I have kids in Elementary, Junior High, and High school. Elementary get the Jr high and high schools end of term off. But they don’t get short days. So my elementary kid is home alone and i cant get him a baby sitter since all the other kids i usually have look after him are still at school. This is a real issue and i’m sure it is for other parents to. I wish elementary wouldn’t get there end of terms off. It would make a lot of things easier for parents. Expectantly when you come home and see that your child has trashed the house and broken every single dish. Hope you consider getting rid of elementary having high school end of term days off.

Question 4 – I was wondering if there is any way that we can have a 2 week holiday break next year? As a teacher who puts in a lot of extra hours, who is taking classes for endorsements, and who is continually trying to have time with my family, having those few extra days that other districts received would have given me time to prepare and really enjoy the holidays. I realize that we get out of school a few days earlier than other districts in June, but personally I would feel as though I was getting a Christmas Bonus to have the 2 weeks of vacation. I know that I am not alone in my desire. I would be more than willing to work a few more days in June to have the 2 weeks off in December. It would be great if our school board would reconsider next year’s calendar.

Question 5 – I just had a question about the traditional schedule. I am in one of the schools transitioning from year-round. I actually support the change, as I feel that there was a lot of wasted time with all the going on and off track. I definitely think a traditional schedule is more conducive to a sustained learning environment. That being said, I think having an occasional break in the schedule is still beneficial to families/students/teachers, be it to just have a time to breathe, to catch up on grades & lesson plans, to travel, etc. I wonder if a hybrid-type of schedule was considered or is a possibility in coming school years (even next year)? What I mean by that is having something similar to one of the two following possibilities:

A) Start school a week earlier (Aug. 20), and extend Fall Recess to a whole week (Oct. 15-19), extend Thanksgiving Recess to a whole week (Nov. 19-23), and Winter Recess to a full two weeks (coming back on Jan. 7), then having the last day of school be on June 12. Summer vacation is only shortened by a week and a half, yet we still have some breathing time in the school year. If the school is closed during these week-long breaks (two weeks for Winter Recess), operating costs shouldn’t be greatly affected, right?

B) Start school two weeks earlier (Aug. 13), and extend Fall Recess to two weeks (Oct. 8-19), extend Winter Recess to two weeks (Dec. 24-Jan. 4), extend Spring Recess to two weeks (Mar. 25-Apr. 5), and end the school year on June 14. Summer vacation is only shortened by three weeks (so it’s still two months long), and we have some decent breaks in the school year. Again, if the school is closed during at least some of these break times, operating costs shouldn’t be greatly affected.

I am partial to option A, since the breaks are less dramatic (shorter), and therefore would result in a smaller disruption in learning continuity. I understand it is important for families who have children in elementary and secondary schools to have the same schedule, so the options above or any similar to them would be for both elementary and secondary schools.

Question 6 – I’m hoping that it was just an oversight in scheduling and not that educators are supposed to be UN-romantic. However, I noticed that the Spring Parent Conferences are scheduled for the Junior High teachers and parents on Valentine’s Day. While that may not be a problem for some, it will be for some others, myself included. While Valentine’s Day isn’t one of those major holidays, it is still a day some of us plan on doing something with our wives. In fact, for once in my life I actually planned ahead and have tickets to a concert. An easy solution could be to put both High School and Junior High Conferences on the Wednesday and Thursday (15th and 16th) having them overlap both days rather than just overlapping the one day. That would move the Junior High Conference off of Valentines.

Response – The procedure for determining the 2012 -2013 calendar (or any calendar) includes forming a committee of parents, teachers, principals, district administrators, GEA, and transportation. Reviewing the most recent survey from parents, this committee decides on two calendars that best represent the data from the survey. The calendar committee has been unanimous in their decision on the two calendars. These two calendars are posted to our web site, for input from parents, teachers, and students. The results of this input, along with the two calendars, is shared with the Board. The School Board then selects the calendar with the most support. This was the case with the approval of the 2012 – 2013 calendar.

Of the five concerns that we received:
– One wants to start one week earlier, end two weeks later, and lengthen every break during the year.
– One wants a two week winter break
– One wants the elementary school to be on the same schedule as the secondary (which will probably happen after the next board meeting)
– Two want to start earlier and end the week of Memorial Day (a week or two earlier) with no longer winter break, with testing as their number one concern

Unfortunately the competing values are often mutually exclusive.  This makes the surveys we’ve been conducting from year-to-year so important – they help inform the decision for the calendar under review and provide conceptual direction for calendar development for future years.

On the other hand, we will more clearly identify the implications associated with potential calendars as we post them for review and input in the future.  We strive to develop calendars that best meet the needs of students, parents and teachers.  We will certainly reinforce this as we meet with future calendar committees.

Thanks to our School Leadership and Improvement Services Directors who head up our Calendar Committee for assisting in responding to these questions.