Summer break may be shrinking for Palm Beach County students - Sun-Sentinel
Summer vacations could be cut short by one week next year for nearly 174,000 students in Palm Beach County schools if administrators get their wish.
There's a good chance for a Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, first day of classes, or nine days ahead of this year. It would be the earliest local start since a 2006 state law pushed school openings later in the month.
"Aug. 13? It seems awfully early for the summer to end," said Erica J. Scarpati, a mother of five children from west of Lake Worth. "It makes it so difficult."
The school district is waiting to learn whether it will be eligible for a waiver from the law, which blocks the school year from starting more than 14 days before Labor Day. In 2012, the holiday is Sept. 3, which makes Aug. 20 the earliest date normally allowed.
Palm Beach County School District officials say that's their second choice. But the School Board probably won't determine the 2012-13 school calendar until January 2012.
Families seeking to finalize summer plans are asked to be patient.
"We are already receiving inquiries from the public on when school will start in August of 2012," said Van Ludy, chairman of a 23-member committee that drafts school calendars. "At this time, all I can tell them is that it will not be any later than Aug. 20, but it may be earlier."
Some parents prefer later starts because it avoids conflicts for family trips, students enrolled in academic summer programs and out-of-state camps, and teens holding summer jobs.
Scarpati says her kids are already enrolled in an overnight camp in New York that runs until Aug. 20.
The school start law was the result of lobbying by a parents grass-roots group called Save Our Summers-Florida, which argued students were "missing out on a normal summer vacation."
Before the legislation, Palm Beach County opened campuses on Aug. 10 in 2005 and Aug. 11 in 2004.
The district got permission to bypass the law most recently in 2010, because it was placed in a group called "Academically High Performing School Districts."
This designation is based on having no "F" rated schools, being rated as an "A" district for at least two straight years, having sound financial audits, and compliance with class-size limits.
The district so far has met all of the criteria except for class size, which won't be determined until mid-October, with the announcement of the top districts by December. But officials say don't bet against them.
"The district is making every effort to meet class-size requirements this school year," Ludy said, citing a strategy of adding classes in secondary schools and placing about 200 more teachers in elementary schools.
Many educators contend the earliest possible start date in August is preferred for academic purposes, even at the expense of curtailing the summer.
They say this helps to form two semesters at the secondary school level with nearly the same number of days. The goal is for the first semester to be long enough to conclude with exams in December before the two-week winter break.
In 2007, the district did not have a waiver, started school Aug. 22, and held first-semester exams in mid-January 2008.
Kim Kohner, a Wellington mother of three, recalls it was disruptive to students and schools.
"It was horrible," said Kohner, who serves on the calendar committee and has two children in 11th grade. "A large group of parents think it's a lot healthier for the kids when they are actually able to take a break and not prepare for exams after the break."
This year, the district did not get a waiver and school started Aug. 22. But officials did not want a repeat of the 2007-08 school year. So they decided to cram the first semester into 82 days and intend to wrap up exams Dec. 22, before the vacation.
Elementary schools typically have 60-day trimesters and are not affected by the exam issue. But all grade levels historically start at the same time.
For next year, the first semester would conclude on Dec. 21, 2012, before winter break, no matter when school starts, Ludy said. If classes start on Aug. 13, the first semester would run 87 days. It's also possible, with a waiver, to start Aug. 14 or another day that week, he said.
The rest of the 2012-13 calendar would be similar to previous years, pending School Board approval. Schools will be closed to students on Nov. 6, 2012, for the U.S. presidential election. Veterans Day, on Nov. 11, 2012, is a Sunday and doesn't conflict with schools.
The last day of school in 2013 will depend on what happens with the first day, Ludy said. It could be anytime from May 30 to June 6, pending consideration by the calendar committee and the board.
The final day of the current school year is locked in — June 7, 2012, a Thursday.
mjfreeman@tribune.com or 561-243-6642
19 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGg2X12fLZ7Ld0H0v66cGCWpLVWZQ&url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-palm-school-calendar-20110917,0,7119362.story
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