Recently we have begun to build a school calendar for next school year. As you may have heard, Governor Branstad has commanded Dr. Brad Buck, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, to be more strict about the start date for schools. Therefore schools will not be allowed to start before Sept. 1. Previously waivers were granted to schools that requested starts before Sept. 1. The waivers are now nearly impossible to attain. While several legislators continue to promote legislation that may allow more local control of this matter, we are mandated to follow the Iowa Code as currently established. Beginning last year, schools were allowed to count student contact hours rather than days to meet state requirements. We actually counted hours here in Creston and at Prescott, but our school calendar still included the same number of days and contact hours as in previous years.
At a time when innovation in this area has been encouraged and literally begged for by state level officials, we have now slipped back to a hard and fast guideline for an official start date. While we still hold out hope for a waiver that would allow at least an Aug. 26 start, we must also construct a calendar that adheres to the current code.
Beyond the establishment of the first day of school, many other factors impact the development of the school calendar. When should we hold parent-teacher conferences? How long should we break for Christmas? Do we need a spring break or not? If so, how long does it need to be and should it be aligned with the Easter holiday?
What about graduation? With the later start date, graduation then gets pushed to Memorial Day weekend. Many communities traditionally hold commencement on the Sunday of that weekend. Others try to avoid that three-day holiday. Some have even begun to schedule commencement on an evening. That decision needs to be made before families coordinate receptions and family gatherings. When should we schedule standardized testing of our students? Are consistent early dismissals on Wednesdays functioning well for families and for school staff?
By the way, the final day of the upcoming Iowa State Fair is Aug. 23. The fair “rolled up” in the calendar year his time. That factor has forced the school start date conflict in many communities. Over the years here we have avoided overlapping school on the State Fair. Many of our students do not actively participate in the State Fair, but a large number do. Many of our local families also attend the fair or camp over there for the duration. In other words, our local culture in general prefers keeping the school year and the fair separate.
On the other hand, many of our school extra-curricular activities, marching band, volleyball, football, cross country, etc. start during the first week of August. Therefore many of our high school students will already be somewhat back in the swing of things before the State Fair even starts. In my opinion, the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa State Fair have postured themselves in a way that has created a direct conflict between the two. Now our elected officials on the state level have been called to “come to the rescue” of their particular special interests and to govern this. While students and families continue to navigate through the busy August days as always, others feel the need to solve the challenge with overarching rules.
Meanwhile, our Iowa community colleges have also been caught up in the undertow of this issue. A tremendous amount of high school students now take college courses for credit while also meeting requirements for high school graduation. In our area, officials at Southwestern Community College have made special efforts to coordinate calendars with local schools in the interest of our southwest Iowa kids. Often times the college’s first day has matched that of most area schools. That way students enrolled in SWCC courses can start their classwork at the college and at their high schools on the same day, or at least the same week. High school faculty members can then more easily support smooth starts for students that have chosen to extend their learning past our high school walls. SWCC plans to start classes on Aug. 26 this year, and we will most likely start our Creston school year on Wednesday, Sept. 3. With coordinated efforts from our partners at SWCC and staff at CHS, we can make this work for students, but some youngsters may be discouraged by this offset of starts.
Shared staff between and among schools is also a factor. We share several teachers with other neighboring districts. High school students from Orient-Macksburg and Nodaway Valley attend classes at Creston High School. Creston and O-M have also shared certain extra-curricular activities for many years. These factors also create the need to align calendars however possible for the sake of students.
Should we spread our school calendar over more of the year with more consistent breaks throughout? This would allow young learners a more even pace over the entire year and would help students retain learning and academic momentum. Our current long summer breaks generate big events on the first and last days of school. Meanwhile many students tend to lose some of their learning through the summer, thus creating the need for review and reteaching each fall. What will be the absolute best for our kids and their learning? What will our local culture handle in this regard? How might this affect families, childcare, and coordination with parents and their employment?
With all the above mentioned factors in mind along with many others and considering your input, we will develop a 2015-2016 school calendar. Please see the drafts shown on our school website at www.crestonschools.org. Draft No. 1 includes an Aug. 26 "early start," but this is choice is unlikely. Draft No. 2 includes a shortened spring break combined with Easter. Draft No. 3 shows a full-week spring break. Draft No. 4 includes no spring break. An extended school calendar spread over the entire year will continue to be considered, but this model will require much more time and careful consideration before being proposed. This idea may be more seriously considered for the 2016-2017 school year.
See what you think. If you have positive thoughts, ideas, or other factors we should consider, please email them to me at smcdermott@crestonschools.org. Please keep our local girls and boys and their learning first in mind as you consider our school calendar.