Schools
Glendora Unified Moving Closer to Earlier Start Next Year
With the calendar, GUSD strives to mimic college semester format, help students with exam preparation and maximize instructional days.
Next year, schools in Glendora Unified may start four days earlier in an effort by administrators to give students an edge in testing and college preparation.
For the 2012-2013 year, school would begin Aug. 15 and end May 30.
District officials also said the change would be necessary to allow students, including those in Advanced Placement courses, to complete projects and prep for tests without worrying about working over winter break. The spacing of the new calendar will mimic college semester calendars, according to Dominic DiGrazia, director of personnel.
"When you start to look at the calendar, you realize we are only a few days away from lining up the calendar with our college-going culture," DiGrazia said. "That's a really huge piece in all this."
Bypassing a public forum, a calendar committee was established, composed of various entities from school sites: PTA members, administrators and some bargaining entities, to discuss the intent of the changes and address concerns.
Most of the parents wanted early notification and an increase of communication between the district and parents, DiGrazia said.
"I spoke to a number of parents also just to get their input besides the committee. Most of the concerns come down to communication, so they can schedule vacations appropriately," DiGrazia said.
The new calendar is a negotiable item for the Glendora Teachers Association and will be negotiated in the spring, with other big ticket items, by the union when they vote to ratify a new contract.
Some time in October, the district sent Glendora Teachers Association members four proposals for new calendars, with members agreeing to the Aug. 15 option.
This calendar would allow teachers to also receive an earlier paycheck.
"This is going to allow them [teachers] to receive a paycheck on Sept. 1. They've never been able to do that," DiGrazia said.
What fiscal impact this could have is yet to be seen, but with more people occupying buildings with an earlier start in the hot August months, that could raise utility costs slightly, DiGrazia said.
DiGrazia said that with any calendar change, the attendance rate will have to be viewed closely to monitor any changes.
"Those kids might actually get a real vacation without doing projects and so forth," said Superintendent Robert Voors. The change is said to give students the opportunity to take a break between demanding AP and CST tests.
Many schools are moving towards or already have early start calendars.
Los Angeles Unified will also implement an early start calendar next year, as well as Glendale Unified.
Hacienda La Puente Unified will have a similar schedule starting next year. HLPU held a public forum and faced some opposition from parents, who mostly worried about having children out at school during particularly hot and smoggy days, while some expressed skepticism over test score statistics.
The district will be preparing a letter to be sent home to parents notifying them of the proposed calendar.
"We think it'll be a big success," DiGrazia said.
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