The Westport Board of Education is considering a proposal for the 2007-08 school calendar that includes a pre-Labor Day start for school.
The board discussed the proposal during its meeting tonight, but it will not vote on the matter until January.
Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon said the Calendar Committee was faced with a number of issues including if school should start before Labor Day, if there should be school on Columbus Day and Veterans Day, if there should be a winter and spring break and when there should be staff development days.
Landon said the committee determined that the issue has come up that the school year ends far too late. School has started after Labor Day the last few years.
“If we start earlier, we can end earlier,” Landon said. “The committee felt it was better for the kids (to start before Labor Day).”
Committee members felt the days would be used more productively earlier in the school year, he said.
Additionally, the committee’s members felt they should pack the staff development days earlier in the school year so they can be used throughout the remainder of the year, Landon said.
Two staff development days would be held before school starts, he said, and there would be on one Columbus Day meaning students would not have to attend school.
While there was school on Columbus Day this school year, he said, the committee felt it was more important to have the staff development day.
In addition, there would be the traditional staff development day on Election Day, he said, and the holiday break would be extended so teachers would work on Jan. 2 although there would be no classes.
The final staff development day would be held in February, which would extend the school vacation by one day, he said.
School would continue to be held on Veterans Day, Landon said, because it has been used productively and enhanced the learning about the meaning of the day.
With the proposal, he said, school would end on June 17 if there are no snow days.
Both Board Chairman Mary Parmelee and member Kristin LeFleur said they had concerns with the continuity of the school year by opening before Labor Day, especially with a half-day on Friday.
Parmelee said there should be a full-day that day because parents my not send their children to school otherwise.
“If we do start before Labor Day, it should be three full days,” she said.
Mike McGovern, a board member, said he favored the pre-Labor Day start because the attention level of students goes down in June.
The shorter time between June 1 and the end of school the better, he said.
“Some may argue that when you get to the last week it doesn’t matter, but it’s worse when it’s later in June,” he said.
