DeKalb School Board Approves New Calendar

October 8th, 2012

It’s official. The DeKalb County School District will switch to a new school calendar next year. In a 6-2 vote, the DeKalb school board approved Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson’s recommendation to convert to a balanced calendar. That means summer break will be two weeks shorter, but other breaks are added throughout the year, including a fall break in October and a winter break in February. Supporters of the balanced calendar say shortening the summer can reduce learning loss.

However, board member Nancy Jester said shaving off two weeks may not have a significant impact.

“I just don’t think cutting the summer by this particular amount accomplishes that,” Jester said, “It moves it in that direction, but I think what we’re really talking about is a year-round school model if we’re really serious about accomplishing that.”

Jester and Don McChesney voted “no.” Board member Sarah Copelin-Wood didn’t attend the meeting.

Thousands of parents and educators completed an online survey, which asked them to choose between the balanced calendar and one similar to the district’s current calendar. 68% of staff members chose the balanced calendar, compared with about 40% of parents. Larry Jackson, whose daughter will attend pre-k in DeKalb County next fall, said he was disappointed that the board didn’t take more time to consider the issue:

“I understand you have to look at what the teachers were saying, because the majority of them were for it, but yet the parents were against it,” Jackson said, “I think there needs to be some more details sorted out to determine, ‘O.k., what were the reasons for that disparity? Why weren’t we all on the same page?’”

The calendar will go into effect next summer with a start date of August 5^th.