Sisters schools set two calendars

Barring budget upsets or other calamities, the Sisters school calendars for the next two years have been set, the one for 2005-06 pretty firmly and the one for 2006-07 in “skeleton” form.

The school board took some action on both at its last two meetings.

The first thing most parents, students and teachers want to know is vacation dates. For next year, Christmas vacation, or winter break, will begin Monday, December 19 and run through Monday, January 2.

The other main vacation during the year is spring break, which in March 2006 will occupy the last two weeks of the month. That will be a return to the traditional schedule for Sisters.

This year, for reasons not altogether clear, the two-week spring vacation occurs during the second and third weeks of March. It started on Monday, March 14.

In retaining a two-week spring break, Sisters is maintaining an unconventional tradition that grew out of a discussion of year-round school in the mid-1990s. Little else was done, but the supersized spring break lives on. Most other Oregon school districts take only one week of spring vacation.

Another unusual wrinkle in next year’s Sisters calendar will see school starting in August — on Tuesday, August 30 for grades 1-6 and grade 9, and on Wednesday, August 31 for grades 7, 8 and 10-12. The purpose of this staggered schedule is to give an extra day’s orientation to the youngest students (elementary school) and to those who will be adjusting to new schools (sixth and ninth graders).

From an administrative and educational standpoint, the big difference between next year’s calendar and the one for the current year is that next year will have 175 days of instruction.

Five days were shaved from the 2004-05 calendar because of budget restrictions. Those days have been restored for 2005-06, at least for now.

It’s possible, of course, that the district will wind up with a budget for the coming year so tight that the board will be forced to consider cutting school days again. That saves money by cutting the pay of all school personnel.

A decision to reduce the number of days of instruction is subject to collective bargaining and can’t be effected without agreement of the teachers’ union.

It’s also subject to the size of the school appropriation that will be made by the Legislature.

Nonetheless, Superintendent Ted Thonstad makes his intention clear: “My goal is to put those five days back in there if there’s any way possible. I think it’s important for the students.”

The roughed-in calendar for 2006-07 shows the following: first day of school, August 29; winter break, December 18 through January 1; spring break, March 18 through 31; last day of school, June 13 (approximately).