What is a traditional school calendar?

In our opinion, a traditional school calendar is a calendar in which academic instruction begins post labor day.

Mistakenly, proponents of year-round school calendars usually refer to the traditional calendar as the agrarian calendar. Research by Dr. Kenneth Gold, City University of New York, showed that the calendar most commonly used during agrarian times was the year-round school calendar of today and that the traditional calendar was ushered in with urbanization.

Research in other states has shown us that the calendar configuration does not impact academic success, but can increase non-instructional costs. This means less of our taxpayer dollars goes into classroom instruction and
teacher salaries. We care about keeping our kids out of school in the summer because summer not only is the hottest time to cool or schools, but we understand it is much easier for families to find quality child care during summer months. It is also beneficial for teachers to have a full summer vacation. Allowing them to pursue advanced degrees (without taking time away from their classrooms and shorting their family time), work a summer job to supplement their income (often allowing teachers to remain in the field), or simply enjoy some much needed time off.

Regardless of the school calendar, our children receive the same number of instructional days - as mandated by our legislature. The only difference is many schools have created a bloated school calendar by adding many one and
two day holidays into the school year. This adds more days from the first day of school to the last, but doesn't add one moment of instructional time to the mix.

If the days were simply swapped, yes. But..if we reduced the number of one and two-day holidays and compacted the school year we could start later and end earlier.

No. Teachers would still be teaching the same number of days. The only difference would be how the holidays were scheduled into the calendar year.

August is typically one of the two hottest months of the year. If we removed the need to cool the schools, with students in the classrooms, during this time our non-instructional costs would be reduced. It is not as expensive to cool schools in May and June – due to demand and usage charges.

For example, Tulsa Public Schools (Oklahoma) pushed back its school start date from August 19 to post-Labor Day and experienced a savings of approximately $500,000 – as reported in the November 17, 2002 Tulsa World article, "Late opening of schools saved money". A recent report by the Texas Comptroller says, "As I stated in my original report, Saving Summer: Lessons Learned, the academic benefits of stretching the school year have not been proved; what we do know – it’s costing Texans $790 million annually,"
With limited dollars to spend on academic programming and teacher salaries, we feel it is important to save money where we can without compromising the quality of our education system.

The first thing to do is to educate yourself about the calendar setting process. Then volunteer to be part of the committee or the group planning the calendar. Take time to talk with the administration about their reason for setting pre-September 1st school start dates. Ask them to provide
research and documentation to support their claims. Then do your own research. Talk to teachers and other parents.

Once you have researched the issue, and feel a September 1 school start date is best for your student, present your findings to your school board and ask them to consider a calendar change. Enlist the help of other parents by
starting a petition drive or simply talking to your neighbors and friends.

Don't sit back and expect someone else to fight for what is right for your child. Most importantly, become involved. Volunteering at your child's school not only emphasizes the importance of education, but allows you to better understand the needs of the school. Remember, everyone has the best
interest of the child at heart.we just sometimes disagree about the best calendar approach.