School calendar changes a tough sell in lean times

By Nancy Badertscher

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

David Banks didn’t believe school in Cobb County should start until after Labor Day, and he said so on his Web site.

But then Banks, one of the newest members of Cobb’s school board, said he started listening to teachers and parents about the downsides of a late start and the potential benefits of a “balanced calendar” with an earlier start and more breaks for students throughout the year.

“If a person really has some integrity, they’ll say they were wrong, and I was wrong,” Banks said, explaining why he helped to pass a balanced school calendar two weeks ago, over objections from a vocal group of parents.

Changes to a school calendar can create parental apoplexy in good times, since tweaks can alter a family’s vacation plans, day care costs and even wake-up time. But now some systems are looking at major calendar changes — with legislative approval — in their scramble to cut costs.

“Not only can you not please everybody [when you change the school calendar], you can’t please anybody,” said Herb Garrett, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association.

Earlier this year, the Georgia General Assembly passed a law giving school systems the leeway to deviate from the traditional 180-day school year, provided instructional time doesn’t suffer.

To date, two systems‚ Murray County in northwest Georgia and Peach County in Middle Georgia‚ have used the new law to change their school years radically in hopes of saving money. Murray County cut the school year to 160 days, starting after Labor Day and ending by Memorial Day. Peach County switched to a four-day school week, with Mondays off and 147 days for students.

In metro Atlanta, Fulton County school administrators say they hope to save $1.1 million next year by adding 10 minutes a day in instructional time and eliminating five early-release days, said Allison Toller, school system spokeswoman.

A 17-member committee recommended the calendar change, “understanding further budget cuts are imminent,” Toller said.

Fulton’s new calendar, which pushes the school start date later to Aug. 23, will be re-evaluated after one year, she said.

“If the massive budget cuts to education continue, other systems are expected to follow suit in one form or the other,” Garrett said.

Parents of students in Marietta city schools are being surveyed on four calendar alternatives, including a balanced calendar.

Cobb officials said they haven’t done a cost analysis, but expect the switch to a balanced calendar to be revenue-neutral. The calendar, which was approved on a 4-3 vote, puts students in class the first week of August, on summer break by the Friday before Memorial Day and on weeklong breaks in September, February and Thanksgiving week.

Cobb County

The school calendar has been a point of contention in Cobb on and off for almost a decade.

Lane Holt said she and other parents started pushing for a later school start date back in 2002, with the goal of preserving traditional family time, summer jobs for students and even income for businesses like Six Flags.

School board members “literally laughed at us” when the group came with petitions in hand, Holt said.

The parents formed a lose-knit coalition called “Georgians Need Summers.” Members of the group tried to persuade the Legislature in 2005 to mandate a later starting date statewide. Locally, they supported candidates who shared the view, Holt said.

“They breathe the air on Glover Street [where the school board meets] and something happens,” Holt said.

Supporters of a balanced calendar contend its opponents, while vocal, are not representative of the majority and say recent surveys and e-mails to board members back that up. A balanced calendar, they argue, can improve student achievement by giving students less time over the summer to forget what they’ve learned and by providing more midyear opportunities to re-energize and refocus.

“I think it’s wonderful and have talked to many other parents who agree,” said Jennifer Modi, a social worker whose two children attend Cobb County’s Kincaid Elementary. “I think the positives in terms of student/teacher burnout, opportunity to take vacations during nonpeak times and the natural six-week grading period will be an advantage for all of us.

Banks said opponents of the change kept the e-mails flying before the vote and for a few days after.

“It was pretty tough,” he said. “The opposition just can’t believe people want a balanced calendar, and they’re not willing to accept that.”