A survey sent to families and staff within the Shawano School District shows an interest in keeping the calendar the district utilized while referendum projects were being completed.
Superintendent Kurt Krizan told the Shawano School Board during its Oct. 12 work session that a majority of the 246 respondents who completed the survey want the school year to start after Labor Day, even though the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction allows for schools to start on Sept. 1, and end right before Memorial Day, with high school graduation taking place the week before school ends.
“We had over 56% want to start after Labor Day, and we also had 52% want the summer break to be as long as possible with fewer breaks during the school year,” Krizan said.
Results showed that 48.5% of respondents wanted to end school earlier even if it meant starting school earlier, according to Krizan.
Additional questions showed that 44% would be fine with a shorter Thanksgiving break. Normally, the school district takes the full week off, which coincides with gun deer hunting season, but with a shorter break, students would be out of school the days before and after the holiday, as well as Thanksgiving Day itself.
Almost 75% said they wanted the weeklong spring break to remain. Krizan said other options had been suggested like a four-day weekend or having a full week on alternating years.
The survey asked how important three-day weekends were, according to Krizan. The highest percentage of votes went to the moderate category, just over one in four. He said over 53% favored fewer three-day weekends if that meant the summer break could go longer.
Staff were asked if they wanted to keep the extra 15 minutes in the school day, and 78.2% were in favor of it. Two in five staff members favored having their professional development days more toward the days before and after the school year, according to Krizan, while 48.5% preferred having a balance of professional development days during the school year, too.
“We will be bringing a calendar to you that will start after Labor Day, end before Memorial Day and have those two days with the Thanksgiving break,” he said.
Krizan noted that the current calendar has 167 days when students are in school because the teachers needed extra time to prepare their classrooms after the renovations, but next year’s will have 168 days. Teachers will also have six additional days that will count toward their paychecks that they don’t have to work in order to compensate for the school days being longer than eight hours.
Board member Jeana Winslow said she took the survey and noted she loved how the last two years had gone.
“Keep it the same,” she said.
Krizan said a few staff members told him coming back after the 3 1/2-month break was the most relaxed they’d ever been. He said the only worry about keeping the schedule is if it has an impact on student learning, noting the “summer slide” effect that students experience after being away from school for an extended period of time.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
