As we mentioned in our July 19 article, public forums to discuss proposed revisions to the regional school calendar—called Calendar 2.0—are scheduled across Chittenden County for October 2, 3, 9, and 10, and we urge everyone who is impacted by the school calendar—parents, teachers, students, day care providers, business representatives, and even commuters—to weigh in on them.
The proposed Calendar 2.0 distributes 175 school days over 11 months—only July would not involve any classroom time (for a slide show about School Calendar 2.0 and to see a .pdf of what the proposed calendar looks like, please click here). Essentially, the revised calendar would mean that students would return to school a week earlier in August, leave a school a week later in June, and have additional vacation time—with optional remedial instruction in some districts—scheduled throughout the year. More specifically, the proposed 2014/2015 regional school calendar would include the following:
- First day of school of August 20 (rather than in late August)
- No school for a week in October (rather than a one- or two-day recess)
- No school for two weeks in December
- No school for two weeks in winter (last week of February and first week of March)
- No school for two weeks of spring (last week of April and first week of May)
- Last day of school of June 19 (rather than earlier in June)
The extended recesses built into the proposed school calendar are suggested as possible “intersession” opportunities for students; such intercessions under consideration in some districts include, among others, remedial instruction and possible enrichment opportunities. Colchester School District will determine the amount of funding required for such intersession opportunities; from preliminary discussions with the Town of Colchester’s Parks and Recreation department, there is a possibility that parent-paid programming can be designed to coordinate child supervision and enrichment during the proposed Calendar 2.0′s intercession periods.
As we’ve mentioned in the past, under Vermont law, the Champlain Valley Superintendents Association—part of the Vermont Superintendents Association (VSA)—is responsible for establishing a uniform school calendar for the region. At this time, Colchester School District does not have a formal position on School Calendar 2.0. We encourage our community members to e-mail Superintendent Waters at watersl@csdvt.org to share thoughts and opinions and to ask questions about the proposed calendar. We also encourage our community members to attend a public forum on one or more of the above-mentioned dates to express opinions.
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