Board reluctantly approves school calendar

After considering written input, citizen testimony, the results of a teachers work session, and considerable back-and-forth between board members, the school board on Wednesday night approved the 2010-11 school calendar.

The accepted draft 3 calls for a two-week spring break, with school starting before Labor Day. School starts August 30; spring break runs March 21-April 1.

The vote was 3 to 1 with Chairman Christine Jones voting in favor but noting that she felt the decision process is flawed, leading to a contentious discussion and confusion every year.

"I promise that I will work out a process that makes the selection of the school-year calendar much more reasonable and predictable before I leave the board," Jones said.

"Every year, setting the school calendar is the 'third rail' in our discussions," lamented School Board Vice Chairman Glen Lasken.

Jones wants to see a rolling three-year calendar so that parents and staff can make their spring and summer arrangements well in advance, adding some predictability to the calendar.

Labor Day falls on September 6 this year, during the second week of September, creating the dilemma of starting school before Labor Day, which then allows for what is traditional for Sisters, a two-week spring break.

Starting after Labor Day gives the district two workable alternatives, either a one-week spring break, or to go an extra week into June. Both of these options are unpopular with many teachers and parents.

It was reported that most districts in Oregon have a one-week spring break, but that it has been a Sisters tradition, appreciated by many teachers and parents, to take a two-week break in spring.

The counter argument is that many high school students work in local tourist-service jobs during the summer. For them, the week of Labor Day is often the last hurrah for vacationers and a very busy week for Sisters Country.