Petition for the August 1st Calendar

#306: Guest - Re: Show results of factual research backing the decision to withdraw the balanced calendar.

Football and marching band (last I checked, every high school has a football team and a marching band) start a minimum of two weeks (and often three weeks) before teachers report.  And they practiced during the September break.  We had to cut our "summer" vacation short (yes, we had our "summer" vacation in September because there was no time left in the summer to take it) to get our daughter back for her practices.  And college kids can't go on vacation with their families in September and February.  But with more time in the summer, they could go with them then.  While teachers have "all summer" (not really because we are planning for the upcoming year, taking classes, etc.), other family members have time constraints on their ability to take a vacation at a particular time.

I want to agree with the Guest above - and to Jason h - the lack of evidence for academic acheivement (with the balanced calendar) is exactly what many parents were concerned with when the last board went against the wishes of their constituents. There is strong evidence that a more traditional year, later start, less breaks is better for academic success.