Another year, another school calendar

The Manatee County School District proposed a new school calendar for the 2013-2014 school year. On this schedule, classes begin August 19 and end June 9. The final draft will be approved at a school board meeting  March 25.

The school calendar is comprised of 180 student days, including days off for holidays as well as staff and faculty training days. The extra school day in June next year comes from taking a day off for Veteran’s Day. 

Last year, the holiday fell on a weekend and did not have an impact on the school’s schedule.

Mike Wilder, the Manatee District’s Coordinator of School Leadership Development, says the district is looking for alternatives to that extra day, which is scheduled as an early-release day on a Monday.

Interim superintendent David  Gayler has been looking into the possibility of changing a few days designated for break into student-teacher days instead. Such dates include a district in-service day in January. The district  has also considered altering the length of fall break and moving the spring break. 

Wilder stated that there are certain days that cannot be replaced, including days that are considered culturally significant, such as Veteran's Day, or contract days used for training.   

A committee of parents and district employees that was assembled in September will review the proposed calendar for Manatee County as well as calendars from other districts . Wilder acknowledged the significance of the final draft for the community.

“Calendars are cultural drivers; families of students make their arrangements around them,” said Wilder, “so it is important to produce the best calendar possible.” 

The public is encouraged to voice their opinions about the calendar by emailing their input to calendar@manateeschools.net. The comments will be collected and given to Gayler.  There have been about two dozen responses since Thursday afternoon.

"I love how the community is bringing up both their concerns and solutions to consider," said Wilder. 

The proposed calendar can be found at manateeschools.net.