Board to still vote during monday’s meeting

More changes have been made to the proposed calendar for the 2015-2016 school year.

The calendar, which was initially proposed over a year ago, has gone through many revisions.

During the Nov. 17 school board meeting, the board was prepared to vote for or against the proposed calendar, but the vote and discussion was tabled. The board will resume discussion during Monday’s meeting at 5 p.m. at Brookside Education Center.

However, on Nov. 26, a new draft of the proposed calendar was posted on the Albert Lea Area Schools website.

According to the website, the proposed calendar was changed to reflect some of the concerns brought up during the three public forums and the open microphone before the Nov. 17 board meeting.

Albert Lea Area Schools Superintendent Mike Funk said there will not be any more public hearings to discuss the calendar, as the changes to the calendar came about because of the feedback from the

previous forums.

Funk said the new calendar draft lessens the impact on the community, and no more hearings will be necessary.

Funk said the board still plans to vote on the proposed calendar’s new draft on Monday night. Linda Laurie, school board chairwoman, said that besides the public hearings to discuss the calendar, there has been 10 comment sessions during regular board meetings throughout the year.

“We have been appreciative of the feedback, and now it is time for us to make a decision,” she said.

This new proposal has shifted around some of the days when students will or will not be in school. It also shows a week of enrichment and recovery during winter break and reduced one of the staff development weeks.

On the previous draft of the proposed calendar, the first day of school would be Aug. 10, 2015, the first Monday after the end of the Freeborn County Fair.

The most recent draft of the calendar puts the first day of school a week later on Aug. 17. 2015. All staff would report to school on Aug. 10, 2015.

Community members expressed concerns about students who participate during the Freeborn County Fair not having time to wind down and prepare for school.

The two-week break in October was pushed back one week. On the previous draft of the proposed calendar, the two-week break would begin Oct. 5, 2015, and run through Oct. 16, 2015.

On the new draft of the calendar, the two-week break begins Oct. 12, 2015, and runs through Oct. 23, 2015. The two-week break in March remained the same.

Winter break, on the previous proposed calendar, began on Dec. 21, 2015 and ran through Jan. 1, 2016. The new draft has winter break running from Dec. 24, 2015, to Jan. 8, 2016.

The week of Jan. 4, 2016, through Jan. 8, 2016, is also marked as enrichment and recovery at Albert Lea High School, something that wasn’t marked on previous calendar drafts.

During the Oct. 30 public forum on the proposed calendar, Funk offered a number of enrichment and remediation programs that would run during the October two-week break.

There are no enrichment and recovery weeks marked during the October and March two-week breaks on the new proposed calendar draft.

Another thing that has changed on the new proposed calendar draft is staff development. On the previous draft, there were three staff development weeks: July 20, 2015, to July 25, 2015; Oct. 5, 2015, to Oct. 9, 2015; and March 7, 2016, to March 11, 2016. Staff could pick one of those three weeks to do staff development.

On the new draft, just two staff development weeks are scheduled: Aug. 3, 2015, to Aug. 7, 2015; and Oct. 12, 2015, to Oct. 16, 2015. Staff are still required to pick one of the two weeks to do development.

Some community members brought up that staff development for teachers works well if teachers who work closely together do that development together. Their concerns were if teachers had to pick one week out of three, some teachers might not be available during the other weeks to do their development with those they work closely with.

The last day of school remains May 20, 2016, with May 23, 2016, to May 27, 2016, as potential snow makeup days.

 

The new draft

First day of school: Aug. 17. 2015

School days: Aug. 17, 2015-Sept. 4, 2015

Labor Day: Sept. 7, 2015

School days: Sept. 8, 2015-Oct. 9, 2015

Break: Oct. 12, 2015-Oct. 23, 2015

School days: Oct. 26, 2015-Nov. 25, 2015

Thanksgiving break: Nov. 26, 2015-Nov. 27, 2015

School days: Nov. 30, 2015-Dec. 23, 2015

Winter break: Dec. 24, 2015-Jan. 8, 2016

School days: Jan. 11, 2016-March 4, 2016

Break: March 7, 2016-March 18, 2016

School days: March 21, 2016-May 20, 2016

Last day of school: May 20, 2016

Snow makeup days: May 23, 2016-May 27, 2016