When Will School Calendar 2013-2014 Be Out?

Found this out at the Executive Committee meeting - intro and action at the May 15th meeting.

Yes, I know this is late.  Yes, I know other districts get this done way earlier.

There is to be a press release between SEA/SPS sometime in the next couple of days.

Tentative highlights:

- school starts on September 4th, ends on June 18th
- full week Mid-Winter Break is back (I was confused during the discussion about why but I will endeavor to get a clarification), Feb. 17-21st
- Winter Break starts Dec. 23rd, back to school in 2014 on Jan 6th (note: the 6th is the correct day - I had it wrong the first time)
- Spring Break - April 14-18th, 2014
- 4 snow days have been built-in

Reminder - until approved by SEA/SPS, this is tentative.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Off topic but apparently Bob Vaughan has announced that he will retire at the end of the year. Any thoughts about the timing/implications of this?

Sniffy
5/8/13, 11:35 AM
Jamie said…
Good grief - why reinstate the mid winter break? That is disappointing. I'm interested to hear the answer to that one.
5/8/13, 11:52 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Absolutely no surprise to me. I'm hoping the implication is the hiring of better manager for a more robust, equitable AL program.
5/8/13, 12:31 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
5/8/13, 12:55 PM
mirmac1 said…
Can we not venture on that topic again?
5/8/13, 12:56 PM
Johnny Calcagno said…
I am strongly opposed to the mid-winter break. Can someone remind me why we have it?

It seems to me that if did away with it, we could sync up with the area colleges' Spring Break week (typically the last week in March) and also get school out earlier in June.
5/8/13, 1:06 PM
Po3 said…
I can take or leave mid-winter break, there are pros and cons to both.

But the late spring break again is a drag.
5/8/13, 1:11 PM
Anonymous said…
Thank you for this!!! I could take or leave mid-winter break, but I absolutely hated all of the Friday/Monday holidays. It seemed to me MANY families tagged extra days on to those long weekends so they could go on a real vacation. That had to have cost the district a lot of money.

Please tell me they're going to negotiate the next calendar (3 years at a time) like all of the districts around us do???

I just heard through the grapevine that my child's school will have a new start time next year, but have not been given any details. Is this written somewhere?

TS
5/8/13, 2:21 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
TS, it was stated by HR that they ARE working out three years but again, it is tentative based on the SEA contract. Maybe, with a new contract approved, they will be able to work out more than a year ahead.

TS, ask your school. I know some schools have already notified parents.
5/8/13, 2:24 PM
Anonymous said…
The first day back from Winter Break is a Thursday? Seriously? SO MANY kids will miss that Thursday and Friday. SO MANY teachers will want to miss that Thursday and Friday. And, honestly, coming from a place with "as short as possible" Winter Breaks, I know that I really appreciate the 2 week long breaks we have out here (or, at least, that the last district I worked for had). So many people here have family that lives far away, I kind of assumed that the 16 day long breaks were standard in consideration of all the people travelling. Personally, I'd much rather have a full two weeks at Christmas and a 3 day mid-winter break.

Still a Sub
5/8/13, 3:56 PM
Anonymous said…
" It seemed to me MANY families tagged extra days on to those long weekends"

Melissa ( I know this wasn't you but I am quoting for my question), I heard that were will be a change in the excused absence policy regarding taking days for family vacation. Are you aware of that?

My understanding, from a SPS teacher, that family vacation no longer qualifies as an excused absence starting next year...

-Curious
5/8/13, 4:35 PM
Jamie said…
Still a Sub, thanks for noting that. That is truly maddening. Winter break has been two full weeks for as long as I can remember and should stay that way, in my opinion. Yuck. Keep Winter Break two weeks and throw out Mid Winter break! Is there anything we can do about this?
5/8/13, 4:36 PM
Anonymous said…
From SPS site:

Nevermind, I found the answer, but I am amazed that this is the current policy since I know many people who do this and the teacher provide make-up work...

" Family vacations of any duration may not be considered excused absences. The school principal has the final say on whether your planned absence will be excused. "

Interesting is that I don't think is uniformly applied...

__Curious
5/8/13, 4:38 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Curious, you found your answer and I agree - it's very odd that principals are the last word on excused vacations.
5/8/13, 4:51 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
5/8/13, 4:58 PM
Anonymous said…
Yeah but. You can always be sick for 2 days. And that is always excused. What's a poor principal to do?

-parent
5/8/13, 7:32 PM
Patrick said…
Starting back to school on a Thursday? Who thinks that's a good idea? Get rid of Midwinter Break and don't start in January until the first full week.

Why does the contract not allow scheduling more than one school year ahead? Seems like everybody loses this way, management, teachers, students, families, everyone.
5/8/13, 9:56 PM
Johnny Calcagno said…
Still waiting to hear good reasons from someone why mid-winter break is a good idea? Anyone????
5/8/13, 10:27 PM
Maureen said…
Well Johnny, a teacher once told me that everyone is sick that week anyway and it gives the germs a chance to die down a bit (and my kid did miss a chunk of that week this year.) But, personally, I think it's because of a big chunk of staff (and/or the SEA) like to ski (or have S.A.D. and use the time to fly to somewhere sunny.)

I hate it too-I hate them getting out so late (and it's particularly bad for seniors who need a summer job and are competing against college students.)
5/9/13, 8:07 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Anonymous said:
The January 2 return has to be a typo, right?

Yes, it was and I am correcting it (they had things blocked out in a weird way and I read it wrong.)
5/9/13, 8:52 AM
Jamie said…
Oh thank goodness - thanks Melissa. Glad Winter Break is intact. And Johnny I am totally with you on questioning the validity of Mid-Winter Break. The kids get two weeks in Dec/Jan and one week in April. Why do they need another week in February. Crikey! People can go skiing on the long President's Day weekend like we had this year.
5/9/13, 12:43 PM
mirmac1 said…
I wonder to what extent this has to do with the expanded PD that, hopefully, will lead to improved learning. Not improved value-added evaluations and human capital.
5/9/13, 8:58 PM
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