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Board hears explanation of draft calendar; spring break restored to full week
Summary
Board members asked about a draft school calendar that initially displayed a four-day spring break; Mercedes Williams said the district intends a full five-day spring break (Good Friday will be an all-students holiday) and described the calendar committee process and parent-advisory input.
Board member Director Silk asked district staff about item 8.04, the draft school calendar posted after the board's pre-meeting Q&A. "My first question is is that accurate that the new calendar is proposing a four-day spring break versus a five-day?" she asked.
Mercedes Williams, director of communications and stakeholder engagement, said the posted draft contains a visual quirk: the Monday through Thursday days are set as "yellow" (school-only vacation) and Good Friday is a green (all-students) vacation day, but the district intends the week to read as a full five-day spring break when finalized. "That Monday will be off. So, those first four days, Monday through Thursday, will be a yellow school-only vacation day and then Good Friday will be a green all vacation day," Williams said; she added that the draft will be updated to reflect a full week before the board's final vote.
Williams described the district's calendar-development process, saying a calendar committee (district staff, two parents, a teacher and three executive-team members) drafts proposals, the parent-advisory council reviews them (about 30 parents attended the recent meeting), and previous parent surveys guided the district toward restoring a full spring break. She also said the PFT was consulted and that some proposed changes conflicted with collective-bargaining agreements, which led the district to revert to the original calendar for those items.
The only substantive change from last year noted in the discussion is that the Monday after Thanksgiving, traditionally a school-only vacation day, is proposed as a full day of school. The board will see the corrected calendar ahead of any final vote.
