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Board of Trustees Approves New School Calendar

On Tuesday, December 11, 2018 the Board of Trustees approved a new three-year calendar after a majority vote.  The 2019-20 school year for students will be from August 19, 2019 to May 22, 2020. 

Background: The Board of Trustees appointed educators from each school as well as parents and community members to the Calendar Committee. The Board provided the following guiding principles for the Committee's work:

1. Maximize student learning by providing significant stretches of uninterrupted weeks for teaching and learning.
   
   
2. Maximize student attendance to support student learning.
   
   
3. Propose a calendar that provides support for the Board's priority of closing the achievement gap.
   
   
4. Propose a calendar that supports student participation in a wide range of school-related activities including competitions, extracurricular programs, dual credit opportunities, etc.
   
   
5. Ensure that the calendar meets with Idaho Statutes, including 33-1009 and 33-512.
   
   
6. Recognize the importance of professional development for staff.
   
   
7. The calendar will be done on a 3-year cycle.

Using these guiding principles, the Calendar Committee developed two calendar options and gathered feedback on the two options through a survey.

The survey was one piece of information for both the Calendar Committee and the Board of Trustees to consider.  Survey results indicated that overall there was a preference for Option 2, with a later start date. When looking at numerous subgroups, the staff were split 50/50 between the two calendar options.  Students preferred the early start date with Option 1. Parents preferred the later start date with Option 2. Community members preferred the early start date with Option 1. Responses to the Spanish survey preferred Option 1, with the early start date.  

The Board considered the survey results, attendance data, and how each option aligned with their guiding principles (see above). The Board voted on the calendar at the regular December 11, 2018 meeting.

We want to thank the School Calendar Committee for their hard work and dedication to the process of developing two calendars for the Trustees to consider.

We look forward to welcoming students for the start of the new school year next August 19, 2019.

For more information, please refer to this memo.