Watch this space  for the latest
information on school calendars

On this page you will find school calendar-related:

 SummerMatters!!  website updates
New: Nov.  2005 -Chicago schools and "The Year-Round Mess" 
New: July 23, 2004 -Study Finds Lower Test Scores in Nevada YR Schools                            New: July 13, 2004 -Trend Turns Toward Traditional Schedule
     New: July 7, 2004: Los Angeles Goal: Traditional Calendar                                            
New: Sept. 3, 2003 - Heat Is On Early School Start & Year-Round School
New: June 21, 2002 - See our New TEST SCORES page

Anniversary for 
SummerMatters!!  
June 21, 2001, the first day of summer, was the launch date
of our website, which is dedicated to providing
information on the wide-reaching 
consequences of school calendar reform.

If you have items you believe should be  included in this section, please forward the information by e-mail to:  bussardre@aol.com        
                                                                                       Last updated Dec. 27, 2005

           **Bulletins**

November 2005: 
Chicago & 'The Year-Round School Mess'

Damning evidence against the year-round calendar is being ignored by Chicago Mayor Daley, chief policy-maker for Chicago schools, who is prosing some 140 schools serving children of color be placed on a multitrack calendar.  See the story at:
http://www.substancenews.com/Mambo/content/view/294/83/ 

August 23, 2004: 
YR Schools Get the Ax in Williams v. California Lawsuit

The year-round calendar will be phased out in all schools  by 2012 as part of the state's agreement and settlement of the Williams v. California lawsuit, which named the year-round calendar among the education detriments disproportionately imposed on minority children.  For a summary of the settlement see:
Editorial, Sacramento Bee 2004-08-23
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/10480840p-11400181c.html

July 23, 2004: 
Study Finds Lower Test Scores in Nevada YR Schools

The following story illustrates the problem a year-round calendar creates in the new environment of  high-stakes tests required by the federal government. The stop-and-start  year-round calendar not only breaks learning continuity, it actually robs children of instructional days, according to a Nevada Department of Education study.

 http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-ed/2004/jul/23/517223063.html

Year-round schools had fewer days for studying before tests

By Emily Richmond
LAS VEGAS SUN

Schools operating on year-round schedules were at a distinct disadvantage when it came to proving they had made the "adequate yearly progress" the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires.

Last year the progress lists were released in October. By moving the testing schedule up to early spring, the district was able to get results back sooner and compile the progress lists before the start of the new school year Aug. 30.

The accelerated testing schedule gives parents of children at "needs improvement" Title I schools more time to consider their transfer option.

But the change in the schedule also meant year-round schools had even fewer days of instruction before their students were tested, said Karlene McCormick-Lee, assistant superintendent of researchand accountability for the district.

In the past the criterion-referenced test, which is based on a combination of state and national standards, was given at the end of May after 165 days of instruction for nine-month schools. The new schedule pushed the test dates up to the middle of March, after about 129 days of instruction.

Many students at year-round schools were tested this spring after as few as 96 days of instruction, McCormick-Lee said.

After hearing complaints from parents and educators about the disparity, the Nevada Department of Education began investigating whether year-round schools had significantly different test results than campuses on nine-month calendars.

As part of the appeals process a school that fails to show the required progress may claim "safe harbor" by demonstrating that the school reduced the number of non-proficient students by at least 10 percent. The state's study determined that based on the fewer number of instructional days it would be "nearly impossible" to meet the 10-percent threshold, Lee said.

All of the district's year-round schools that failed to show adequate progress appealed on the basis on the state's findings, Lee said. "The number of instructional days isn't a free pass -- and it shouldn't be," Superintendent Carlos Garcia said. "What we're looking for is a little more equity." State education officials are meeting with representatives of Nevada's 17 school districts to devise a new testing schedule. One proposal calls for testing all students at the 125th day of instruction. "The actual day doesn't matter, provided everyone is treated the same," Garcia said.

July 13, 2004: 
Trend Turns Toward Traditional Schedule
California - California, a barometer state on school trends since the 1970s and which has housed the lion's share of year-round schools during that time, is retreating from the year-round school calendar and returning school districts to a traditional school schedule as rapidly as possible, according to a July 13, 2004 story "Trend Turns Toward Traditional Schedule," by Joe Tone. 
See: http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/071304-gn-7.php

The following are excerpts from that story: 
     “Many school districts here and across California slowly are returning their schools to traditional calendars, moving away from the year-round schedules that helped the growing districts squeeze more students onto crowded campuses.”
     “The latest trend indicates once overcrowding is under control, schools quickly return to the traditional calendar.”
     “Since 1998, the number of year-round public schools statewide has fallen from 1,517 to 1,486, according to the California Department of Education.”
     "School Districts in Lodi, San Jose and elsewhere recently started the move back to regular schedules."

California public schoolchildren attending school on a year-round calendar represented more than half the total enrollment of 2.2 million public schoolchildren nationwide going to school year-round in the 2002-03 school year. At times, California has housed more than 80 percent of the nation's year-round students.

July 10, 2004: 
All Los Angeles Schools To Return to Traditional Calendar
All 129 Los Angeles schools using the Concept 6 year-round calendar will be returning to  a traditional calendar, according to the draft of an agreement to settle the Williams v. California lawsuit that has cited the year-round calendar as an education detriment in its education inequity court case, according to a July 10, 2004 Los Angeles Times story:  

The agreement bars crowded campuses from converting to the Concept  6 year-round calendar, which shaves 17 school days from the 180-day school year. 

Los Angeles school district, which in the 2002-03 school year had 240 schools using a year-round calendar, "already is in the midst of a massive school construction program intended to return all of its student to a traditional, 180-day school year by 2012," the story says. Los Angeles has led the nation in the number of year-round schools for decades.
See: — ACLU Suit on California Schools Near Resolution, by Duke Helfand and Cara Mia DiMassa, Los Angeles Times, 2004-07-10 at
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/
la-me-williams10jul10,1,3881810.story?coll=la-news-learning

September, 3, 2003: 
The HEAT IS ON Early School Start and Year-Round School
School districts around the country are having to re-evaluate early school start dates because of budget cuts and high costs of using them--especially the extra energy costs incurred of operating schools in the hottest part of the year.

Details of the heavy financial burdens and health hazards caused by forcing children into school buildings during the sweltering weeks of summer are found in the August 12, 2003  minutes of the Resources For Student Achievement Committee Meeting  of the Tempe, Arizona, school district. The committee cites the reconfigured school calendar as a large waste of school funds.

Excerpts from this enlightening meeting follow.  The discussion of the financial and maintenance nightmares that face a school district that operates in the dog days of summer ought to give school districts pause about switching calendars and convince others to return to a traditional school calendar with a starting date closer to Labor Day.
Billee Bussard
editor, www.SummerMatters.com

The excerpts from the Arizona meeting are below. for the full text see:
http://www.tempehighschools.com/tuhsd_main/district_office/obj2/2003-08-12Resources.pdf.

Resources for Student Achievement
Committee Meeting
August 12, 2003

Attending:
Diane Meulemans Business Services Department
Dan Perkins Governing Board Member
Mike Ruppel Director, Information Services
Robin Arredondo-Savage Governing Board Member
Bob Anderson Director, Plant Operations
Debra Hunter Community Member
Jeff Simmons,Director, Budget & Finance
Livvy McKeown Teacher,
Marcos de Niza
Pam Kellogg Support, Mountain Pointe
Nicole Reynolds Teacher,
McClintock Oscar Ramirez Support, Corona del Sol

The committee was directed to the responses we've received from Bob Anderson regarding energy consumption and facilities. The first suggestion was to use exterior facilities for athletic events during the daytime whenever possible, and home football games should be played on Saturday morning instead of Friday night. Bob feels that this suggestion is about the cost of the lighting; but the cost of the a/c in the gyms and swamp coolers in the locker room areas on the weekend will probably cost even more than the lights on a Friday night.

He suggested that the Freshman and Junior Varsity games could be played right after school, instead of at night with full concessions, etc. being powered. The cost to run the concession stands is  estimated at about $250, but the booster groups count on these for fund raising. We would need to ask Don Wilkinson if the scheduling of these games (Freshman and JV) is an AIA thing, or if it's something we can change at the district level. The committee agrees with Bob that the changing of the Friday night varsity games is not practical or cost-effective.

Next suggestion was permanent implementation of the current energy saving measures. Bob stated that everyone seems to agree that it's a good thing; although right now with the record-setting heat we are experiencing in the Valley, it's been difficult to keep the buildings cool.

Livvy is concerned that there should be different plans for cooling on those kinds of days, as the extreme heat is affecting the health of the students.
Nicole suggested that perhaps the fall break in October should be looked at again. It creates the need to start school earlier, when the heat is at its peak, and utility costs are considerably greater.

The fall break has only just been incorporated by all three districts, but maybe it's something that needs to be looked at from the perspective of energy-consumption. Bob stated that 
it's extremely hard on our a/c equipment to try to cool buildings full of students at this time of year; the failure rates are higher now, and it saps the life expectancy of the equipment to have to operate under these conditions.

Nicole suggested that this needs to be looked at for the year round calendar at Tempe High; does the student achievement level because of that calendar offset the obviously higher utility costs during the summer? Mike asked if we are going to adjust the calendar to correspond with energy utilization requirements or if we need to stay with a calendar that is consistent with our feeder districts at any cost. He believes that starting school after September 1 and ending in June would bemore cost efficient.

Pam stated that the Calendar Committee is always hearing pleas from faculty members for the semester break to coincide with the winter break; pushing the calendar ahead would create in inequity in the number of days preceding and following the longest break of the regular calendar.

Bob stated that we need to realize that Excess Utilities is out as of 2008; and the increased M&O cost for utilities is going to directly impact paychecks. Pam said that our mandate as a committee is to look at our energy use and the wisest use of our dollars, even if that might be a departure from the philosophy for why the calendar is the way it is currently.

Livvy suggested that the three districts need to get together and talk about this, since energy is an issue for them as well. Diane suggested that we also need to look at having the calendar respond to when the students will actually show up. With school starting well before Labor Day, we are finding that the high point for attendance is around the 20th day; wouldn't it be better if the high point were on the 10th or 5th  day?

Dan asked if the committee is in agreement with keeping the current energy savings measures in place, and if they wanted to address the calendar as a separate issue. We are seeing significant savings from the current measures; however, students and staff are suffering because the buildings are not designed to operate optimally at this time of year. Dan asked if we couldn't look at changing the temperature settings somewhat.

Bob said that it's difficult for the equipment to cool to the 76° level when there are 35 bodies in a room designed for 22; also the problem is complicated at the high school level because of the class changes at the end of every period. When the period is almost over and the temperature is close to what it's supposed to be, the doors open and all the cool air goes out and the hot comes in and the process starts all over again.

Oscar stated that the high humidity at this time of the year is a complicating factor as well. Dan asked if we couldn't try to tweak the plan a bit and try to make people more comfortable, even if it means we save a little less money.

Bob stated that rates are going up, and our budget isn't going up; we really should try to save more money next year than we did this year.

Diane stated that in 2008-09 the Excess Utility budget goes away completely, and we will have $1.3 million that we need to get back into the budget for utilities. For the current suggestion of permanently implementing the energy saving measures, the committee agrees and will make this recommendation to the Board, since we know that additional savings will need to be realized in order to offset additional utility budget reductions.

Our calendar recommendation will be addressed in the suggestion to alter
the school calendar, which is also included in this list.

The next suggestion is to have one site for summer school. Bob stated that this is clearly a better idea to have only one site cooled, and leave it cooled for an afternoon session.

Mike indicated that there are additional M&O implications in terms of moving computer labs from one building to another. The committee agrees with this suggestion and will recommend to the Board.

Next suggestion is to raise summer school fees in order to help offset energy costs. Bob indicated that this is already being looked at. The major concern is that if you took all of the costs of summer school, including utilities, and made it a completely self-sufficient program, it would become very unaffordable for many students. Right now the summer school fees only cover the teacher and support staff salaries and supplies.

You would need to raise the fees for approximately 2,500 students by enough to cover the $60,000 to $70,000 in utility costs for one site, which equates to about $30 additional per student.

The next suggestion on Bob's list was to alter the school calendar, and this discussion was held previously in conjunction with permanent implementation of current energy-saving measures. In order to minimize the number of high-energy days that school is in session, the committee agrees with the suggestion and will recommend that the energy-savings issues be included in the next tri-district calendar committee discussion.

The last suggestion is a new submittal, and deals with closing Tempe High School.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Tempe High School is a year-round school, which has been embroiled in controversy over several years about the merits of  the calendar, which was well documented in local media accounts.  Last year the new principal suggested abandoning the year-round calendar, unconvinced of its educational benefits and concerned about its higher costs.

September, 16, 2002: 
Study: Early School Start Dates Hurt Economy
Columbia, S.C. - Reconfiguring the school year with a shorter summer vacation can have a devastating impact on the economy of communities and states that rely on revenues from summer tourism business, according to a new study by Dr. Stephen C. Morse of the University of South Carolina. 

The 23-page report (see: Noteworthy)  shows the economic impact of early start dates on South Carolina communities as well as the state, which rely on revenues from tourism in part to fund schools. 

There are also many hidden costs  of school calendar change, Morse warns: "Starting schools in August means schools must cool facilities for children during the hottest month of the year - August, costing unnecessary utility expenses by starting early, as opposed to starting after Labor Day in September. "

Morse estimates that early school start dates are costing South Carolina  $180 million in total economic impact, $6.03 million is State tax revenues, $2.34 million in local tax revenues, and $8.37 million in total State and local tax revenues.

This report is a must-read for parents, school officials, state legislators,  and other government leaders, especially those in charge of budgets, as well as anyone concerned about loss of revenues that can lead to higher personal taxes.

February, 21, 2002: 
Study: No better scores for alternative calendar students
York City, Penn. - Yet another academic study finds no academic advantage in using a year-round calendar.  

A comparison study  by the Boyer Center,  a not-for-profit group based at Messiah College, found no better test scores or school attendance for the York City year-round students than for  traditional calendar students.

"An analysis of the effects of a year-round calendar on the city's elementary schoolchildren revealed little difference between the year-round schedule and the traditional school year," according to a Feb. 21  York City Dispatch story: "Study calls it a draw; No better performance for alternative schedule."  (See: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/searchit/index.html) 

The elementary students  who attend York City Academy, which became a year-round calendar four years ago, have tutoring and other educational activities available to them during the alternative calendar school breaks: four two-week breaks and a five-week summer break. The sessions were not popular, with a participation rate of only 8.6 percent, the  study said.

York City year-round school students scored no better than traditional calendar students even though their classes tended to be smaller, the report noted. Studies show  a relationship between small class size and  improved student performance.

The Boyer Groups  also told the school board that placing all  York City district  schools on a year-round calendar would cost about 20 percent more.

February 2002: 
Scores drop substantially in Alabama YRS district
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - New figures on the Stanford Achievement Test show scores  dropped substantially  across the board, and across all grades since  Alexander City, Ala., schools switched to a single-track year-round calendar district wide in 1998. Alexander City, which has been touted as a model year-round school district, is the very first school listed in an annual directory of year-round schools produced by the National Association For Year-Round Education.

--Alexander City, Ala., Schools--
Before and After Year-Round School
Comparison of Stanford Achievement Test Scores
1999-2001