School before Labor Day?

Two different calendars have been proposed for the next school year. One starts school before Labor Day, the other reduces Spring Break to one week.

Labor Day is on September 7 in 2009, which would have schools start on September 8 if the tradition of starting the Tuesday after Labor Day is maintained. This reduces the number of possible instructional days to unacceptable levels unless the year extends deeper into the following June, or vacation breaks are reduced.

The feedback the district received from a survey was that most people preferred starting school after Labor Day, with an additional day or two around Thanksgiving, with two weeks off at Christmas, a two-week spring break, and out of school before the Sisters Rodeo early in June.

"With a late Labor Day we can't honor all five of those," Superintendent Elaine Drakulich told the school board at their March 11 meeting. "We could do a one-week break in December, but the end of the school year is problematic if we go into the fourth week of June. The graduation and rodeo piece is difficult. Also, summer school for teachers starts that third week in June."

There has been some controversy in the past about starting school before Labor Day, especially with employers who depend on the student labor pool through the busy Labor Day weekend.

Board member Glen Lasken thought that starting school before Labor Day, but still in September, "is somewhat of a middle ground." At his suggestion, the decision will be deferred until more community input is received.