The Albert Lea school board shot down plans to adjust the school calendar Monday night.

There were three yes votes from Bill Leland, Jeshua Erickson and Chairwoman Linda Laurie and three no votes from Mark Ciota, Jill Marin and Julie Johnson. With no majority, the motion failed.

At least 200 district residents were at the meeting. All of the chairs were full and people were standing around the perimeter of the room, as well as spilling into the hallway. After the roll call vote was finished, the crowd erupted into applause and gave a standing ovation.

Over a year ago the school board went to Superintendent Mike Funk and asked for ways to help increase student success, Ciota said. The proposed calendar was just one of those ways suggested. Some other things on the list were all-day kindergarten and Pathways to Success, a workforce development program, Ciota said.

The calendar had gone through multiple revisions, the most recent being on Nov. 26 following feedback from the community.

Funk said the biggest thing the community said about the proposed calendar was to not “mess with our summer.” The new proposed calendar had school starting on Aug. 17, 2015, for students. The previous draft of the calendar had the first day of school set at Aug. 10, 2015, which was directly after the Freeborn County Fair.

Funk also explained that the most recent draft of the calendar would have 170 school days with five snow make up days built in. Historically, the district hasn’t needed any snow days until last year. The state requires students to be in the classroom for a minimum of 165 days, Funk said.

Before voting, some of the school board members offered their comments as to why they were in support or not in support of the calendar.

Johnson said the board was looking to reduce summer learning loss with a 45-on-15-off calendar. However, she noted the calendar that was being voted on wasn’t a 45/15. Ciota and Johnson both said the current proposed calendar didn’t address what it was supposed to.

Johnson also said the board made a commitment to the community and said if the community wasn’t behind the calendar, the board wouldn’t move forward. She said she took the commitment seriously.

“We need you, and we value you,” she said of the community members.

Erickson, who supported the calendar, said he had confidence in the administration, teachers and staff, and firmly believed that they would taken advantage of the opportunities the proposed calendar could have given.

Ciota was supportive of the administration, would support just about anything that will help students and sees the potential benefit of the calendar, he said he didn’t think the calendar was the right thing for the community right now.

Marin said she was happy to see interaction in the community and hopes to continue the conversation. At the school board meeting two weeks ago, Marin gave a lengthy speech about why she was opposed to the calendar. That speech brought new points and prompted the vote to get pushed to Monday.

All of the board members who spoke thanked the community for their input and for coming to the meeting.