Last
April, a bill was signed in Madison to eliminate the state law
mandating that students attend at least 180 days of school each year.
School districts are still required to meet the same specified number of
hours of student instruction, but the instruction no longer needs to
occur over 180 student contact days. With this change, the Menomonie
Area School District is evaluating whether or not improvements could
make our school calendar better for students, parents, staff, and
taxpayers.
In
addition to scheduling days of student instruction, school districts
also need to plan for professional development, parent-teacher
conferences, and holiday breaks. Professional development is needed to
keep staff trained in new teaching strategies and to help ensure the use
of best practices in curriculum and instruction in our school district.
Parent-teacher conferences are obviously important for reporting on
individual student performance and discussing how parents and teachers
can work together to maximize student success. And breaks in the school
calendar are needed to observe holidays and provide time for family
traditions, rest, and relaxation.
In
Menomonie, we are planning to eliminate the early release days that
were previously used for staff professional development and replace some
of those days with whole-day professional development opportunities
scheduled on dates that might be more convenient for families. This
change would result in two fewer student contact days, but it would
actually add a few hours of student instruction and provide more
opportunities for professional development for our staff.
Adopting
a new calendar could also allow the school district to reduce some
operating expenses and increase efficiency in our school district. We
would like to maximize the value of the days that we all pay for
transporting our students and serving them meals. District staff members
are also evaluating the value and effectiveness of regular late starts
that are used at some of our sites for teacher collaboration and data
analysis, but that is a different discussion separate from the district
calendar.
During
an initial review of calendar proposals for the 2015-2016 school year,
the school board wanted to discuss additional possibilities that could
include reducing the week-long spring break and allowing students to get
out of school earlier for the summer. So, there are two calendar
options that the district is currently investigating. The first option
is similar to this year's calendar, with the change to the early
dismissals. The second calendar proposal shortens the spring break in
2016, but gets students out of school before June 1st.
In
order to gather feedback related to these options, we are asking
families, staff, and community members to please take a few minutes to
review the proposals and take a brief survey. The survey and calendar
proposals can be found on the school district website or by going
directly to this URL: http://goo.gl/forms/ZF6UeEjLLv.
There are many factors that the school board will consider before
making a final decision, but the preferences of school district
stakeholders is certainly an important piece to this puzzle.
Should
school stakeholders have any questions about the school district
calendar, or if you do not have access to review the proposals through
the Internet, I invite you to visit the Administrative Service Center on
Pine Avenue or contact me at 715-232-1642. More information about our
schools can be found on the school district website (www.sdmaonline.com) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/sdmaonline).