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Board previews Western JMT/Erie 1 BOCES regional school calendar; district to draft local calendar after BOCES vote
Summary
Superintendent staff reviewed a draft regional calendar created by the Western Joint Management Team (Erie 1 and neighboring BOCES); West Seneca will hold a local calendar meeting and return a district calendar for board adoption after BOCES finalizes its vote.
District leaders walked the board through the draft Western JMT (Joint Management Team) calendar, which covers Erie 1 BOCES, Erie 2 BOCES and Niagara-Orleans BOCES and aims to align start dates, conference days and breaks across the region. The draft is created at the BOCES level; the Erie 1 BOCES Board of Education has not adopted the calendar yet, and the regional board will vote in the coming weeks.
Dr. Loughran (administrator) told trustees the draft calendar helps districts that send students to neighboring BOCES programs reduce disruption for students who attend programs in different BOCES regions. The district will hold its own calendar meeting (scheduled locally) and present a West Seneca student calendar to the board for adoption after the BOCES decision. The board asked staff to consider cultural observances (for example, Lunar New Year is recognized when it falls on a weekday) and to collect feedback from teachers’ union leadership about any contract implications for early teacher-report days.
Board members asked about sequencing and whether starting school one week earlier (per this draft) would allow a longer winter break and earlier school-year completion. Staff said teachers’ contracts can permit two additional pre-September days with union agreement, which would create flexibility in the school year for snow days and break structure. The board also asked the administration to provide absenteeism and chronic-absence data for half days before breaks so members can assess the instructional value of shortened school days.
