On Feb. 24, the Mid-Prairie school board approved a 2020-21 school calendar that includes a spring break.
However, Superintendent Mark Schneider said he plans to conduct a survey after this …
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On Feb. 24, the Mid-Prairie school board approved a 2020-21 school calendar that includes a spring break.
However, Superintendent Mark Schneider said he plans to conduct a survey after this year’s spring break to determine whether it should be included on future school calendars.
“We’re going to do the survey about spring break after this week’s spring break,” Schneider said. “People, for whatever reason, want to get out before Memorial Day.”
He pointed out that because people often make spring break plans well ahead of time, it is not practical for the district to use spring break to make up snow days if necessary.
“We could change spring break next year when we get the survey back, could we not?” board member Denise Chittick asked.
Schneider said that the board can change the school calendar at any time.
“I would do it in May,” he said, pointing out that he would not have the survey results until late April. “I wouldn’t wait until school is out.”
Board Vice President Jeremy Pickard raised another issue with the 2020-21 calendar.
“My only issue with the school calendar is that the Monday after Thanksgiving makes no sense,” Pickard said.
Schneider responded that he polled employees, who said they preferred to have that Monday off.
“It’s not about the employees,” Pickard said. “What’s the number one skip day in our district? My guess is that it’s a really high skip day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. If you’re traveling anywhere, you’re going to travel on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
“I also think it’s a little bit of a hardship on parents to find daycare on the Monday after Thanksgiving.”
Board members Jodi Meader and Gabby Fredericks both said that, as parents, they like having the Monday after Thanksgiving off.
Other details of the calendar include:
• Aug. 25 as the first day of school.
• Winter break beginning on Dec. 23 following an early dismissal that day, and students returning to school on Jan. 4.
• Spring break March 15-19.
• Last day of school on May 28.
The calendar was approved by a 4-1 vote, with Pickard voting against it.
