LONGMONT –The St. Vrain Valley School District Board of Education instructed staff on Wednesday to begin looking at a longer school year, even if that does not include additional days.
No changes would be made to the 2011-12 calendar. Extending the school year could take two, three or even four years to accomplish, said school board director Bob Smith.
To extend the school year without adding days of instruction, the district could add breaks between terms, or have a longer winter break and a shorter summer break, for example.
Assistant superintendent Amy Weed said the district`s calendar committee will start meeting in the fall to work on the 2012-13 and 2013-14 calendars.
Regina Renaldi, executive director of priority schools, suggested that when the district is ready to try a year-round school, it test the calendar in one feeder system. A feeder system is a high school and the middle schools and elementary schools that send students to that high school.
Mark Mills, also an assistant superintendent, suggested that student-athletes who play on high school and club teams would transfer to private schools if the calendar changed.
But school board president John Creighton is determined to choose the calendar based on what`s best for academic achievement. The long summer break can cause students to forget lessons. “If we changed the school schedule, they`d figure out their sports schedule,” Creighton said.
