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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

New class schedule sought

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Education Writer

A proposed new annual class schedule for all of Hawai'i's non-charter public schools would feature a shorter summer vacation than the traditional calendar, but include breaks in the fall, winter and spring.

Public meeting

What: Superintendent's recommendation on unified school calendar

When: 3:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Board of Education meeting, Niu Valley Middle School cafeteria, 310 Halema'uma'u St.

Schools have operated on up to six different calendars for the past decade, but the Board of Education must choose a common schedule for the school year that begins in mid-2006.

State schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto is expected to recommend the schedule to the board on Thursday.

It was not the most popular of five options presented in a survey of more than 126,000 parents, students and state education employees, according to a report prepared for the board.

But other choices tended to draw a polarized response, with a high percentage of people strongly opposing a calendar that many others favored, the report says.

The schedule to be recommended would be a good compromise, because many people ranked it as "acceptable," even though it wasn't their first choice, according to the report. Many Hawai'i schools already use the schedule.

The Board of Education isn't bound by the proposal, and no vote will be taken Thursday. But a schools overhaul law enacted last year requires the board to choose a unified school calendar by July, and for it to take effect the following school year.

The move to a single school calendar is expected to save money on operating school buses, preparing meals, making deliveries and other aspects of running a statewide school system.

About 100 schools operate on a traditional nine-month calendar, but more than 170 others follow a year-round or modified schedule.

Schools began diverging from a common calendar more than 10 years ago, when some decision-making power was shifted to individual schools and communities. But the changes have caused problems for some families.

Planning a family event or vacation has often been hard for Becky Gustafson, a Mililani mother of four. The elementary, middle and high schools her children attended last year all had different class schedules.

"It's very difficult for family activities," she said. "We like to take vacations once a year, as do many families."

With children having only one week off at the same time, the family has had to split up for trips to the Mainland, and have children rendezvous along the way, she said.

Gustafson said she's not convinced that one schedule is needed for the whole state. But it would certainly make sense for schools from the same complex, or group of schools that serve children of different ages in the same area, she said.

She said she prefers an option that includes a two-week fall break, rather than the shorter break in the pending recommendation.

"It's less expensive airfare to go to the Mainland in October," she said. "And it avoids the crowds that you have over the Christmas holidays and the spring holidays."

The calendar survey choices included four year-round schedules with shorter summer vacations and varying breaks in the fall, winter and spring. The fifth option included a traditional 10-week summer break, with two weeks off in winter and a one-week break in spring.

The calendar that ranked highest included a two-week fall break. But many who didn't select that option as their first choice were highly opposed to it, according to the survey results.

Paul Vierling, community relations specialist with the Hawai'i Parent Teacher Student Association, said split school schedules have been a concern for many parents with children in different schools.

"They've got to do all this juggling, and it becomes a lot to manage for a parent," Vierling said.

School calendars can also affect schedules for other children's activities, like playing on sports teams and taking dance classes, he said. If those activities follow one school's schedule, children from another school may not be able to fully participate.

"The calendar is not just limited to schools," Vierling said. "The consequences are even greater than that."

Roger Takabayashi, president of the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, said the union would not oppose the schedule recommended in the report.

"You can't please everyone, but this would cause the least disruption among the schools," he said. "It was the most obvious choice, because so many people are on it already."

Laurie Markum, a Kailua mother of two high school students, said the main goal of any school calendar should be to improve academic achievement.

"The school system is so far behind that the kids do not need so many breaks," she said. "And if there are breaks, they need to provide things for them to catch up, like more intensified enrichment programs during the summer. I just can't understand why the schools can't get it together."

The DOE report states that research regarding the effect of the school year on academic achievement is "not sufficiently compelling in the support of any particular school calendar."

The survey was translated into 10 languages so it would be as inclusive as possible, schools program and support director Robert Campbell said earlier.

More than 335,000 parents, students, and Department of Education employees were included in the survey, which was conducted late last year, he said. More than 126,000 responded, according to Campbell.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.

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