The Albert Lea School Board is planning to vote on Monday on one of two calendars for the 2015-16 school year.

Both calendars are traditional calendars, but one has a pre-Labor Day start and one has a post-Labor Day start.

Labor Day this year is Sept. 7, a date which is considered late by many schools. Over 50 schools have applied and received waivers to start before Labor Day, according to Chairman Mark Ciota.

The school board and community have been discussing many calendars since April 2013. Originally, the board wanted to pursue a balanced calendar, similar to a 45/15 model. However, that calendar was changed from its original draft, creating what many people called a modified calendar — somewhere between a traditional and balanced calendar.

By September, the draft of the modified calendar had a start date of Aug. 10 and would end on May 23, 2016, with a week at the end of the school year saved for snow makeup days. In November the calendar was rearranged again, this time starting on Aug. 17 and ending on May 20, 2016, again with a week saved for snow makeup days.

However, the proposed calendar was voted down on Dec. 1, 2014. Board members Julie Johnson, Jill Marin and Ciota voted against the calendar and Bill Leland, Linda Laurie and former board member Jeshua Erickson voted for the calendar. As no majority was reached, the calendar failed.

Another calendar wasn’t proposed until the Feb. 17 board meeting, when Ciota proposed a traditional calendar with an earlier start date of Aug. 24. Community members at the meeting raised concerns about students going to the state fair. Issues of transparency and trust between the board and community were also raised.

The board was planning to vote on the calendar at this meeting, but the vote was pushed back as board member Dave Klatt was sick.

Now, two calendars are being looked at: a calendar that begins on Sept. 8 and ends on June 3, 2016, and a calendar that begins on Aug. 24 and ends May 20, 2016.

The Albert Lea Area Schools website said both calendars are 171 days in length. The pre-Labor Day start calendar still finishes the first semester by winter break, the website said.

The post-Labor Day start calendar would have breaks on Oct. 15 and 16 for MEA, Nov. 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving, Dec. 23 to Jan. 1, 2016, for winter break, Jan. 22, 2016, for staff development, Feb. 15, 2016, for President’s Day, March 21 to 25, 2016, for spring break, April 4 for staff development and May 30 for Memorial Day.

The pre-Labor Day start calendar would have breaks on Sept. 4 and 7 for Labor Day, Oct. 15 and 16 for MEA, Nov. 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving, Dec. 24 through Jan. 6, 2016, for winter break, March 14 to 18, 2016, for spring break and March 25, 2016, for Good Friday.

Community members who opposed the original proposed calendar have expressed that the post-Labor Day start calendar is exactly what they wanted.

“The true traditional calendar that has just been released is what many of us have been looking for,” Tom Jones, a parent who was opposed to the proposed calendar, said. “If this would have been introduced a year ago, thousands and thousands of dollars would have been saved and there would not be a trust issue with our board and administration. There are many ways we can achieve our educational goals without disrupting the lives of so many families, organizations and businesses in our school district. We are seeing this with the nice increase in our graduation rates over the last three years.”

“It is time for the school board to right all the wrongs that have been going on since the calendar discussion started,” said Kari Ulrich, another parent who was opposed to the proposed calendar.

The school board will meet at 5 p.m. Monday at Brookside Education Center. There will be a public forum at the beginning of the meeting.

 

Timeline of the calendar issue

March 31, 2013: A community meeting was held to discuss the school calendar. Approximately 60 community members attended.
April 1, 2013: Superintendent Mike Funk presented the original proposed calendar.
Early August, 2014: Springsted Inc. out of St. Paul conducted a survey of the community, where some of the questions pertained to the proposed calendar.
Sept. 23, 2014: The first public hearing on the proposed calendar was held.
Oct. 20, 2014: The second public hearing on the proposed calendar was held.
Oct. 30, 2014: The third public hearing on the proposed calendar was held.
Nov. 17, 2014: The school board tabled a vote on the proposed calendar after a speech by board member Jill Marin. This meeting was also the first chance community members could speak to the board via open mic.
Nov. 23, 2014: An anonymous survey to teachers about the proposed calendar was deemed invalid after more results than there are teachers in the district came in. The results had 139 people in favor of the calendar and 178 against.
Nov. 26, 2014: The board releases a new proposed calendar with the start date pushed back from Aug. 10 to Aug. 17.
Dec. 1, 2014: The proposed calendar was voted down with a 3-3 split vote.
Dec. 15, 2014: The school board failed to meet quorum to discuss mandatory summer school and intersession instruction in regards to the proposed calendar.
Dec. 29, 2014: The school board revisited the proposed calendar that was voted down on Dec. 1, but no board member made a motion to approve the calendar after former Chairwoman Linda Laurie called for a motion three times.
Feb. 17, 2015: The school board tables a vote on a new calendar, traditional except for an early start date, due to board member Dave Klatt being sick.