School to Community Connection
March 24, 2004
Issue 62

Big Changes in Next Year’s School Calendar
At the March 10 School Board meeting the board adopted the school calendar for 2004-2005. We feel it is important to bring this to your attention as there are a couple of major changes that have been made to it - school will be starting one week earlier than normal, and there is one week in February of no school.

This year the district leadership team looked at last year’s student attendance data on student absences throughout the year. We focused on the pupil attendance months that had the highest absentee rate. The team also analyzed the reasons for absences: illness/medical appointments, short-term independent study contracts, and unexcused absences. In addition, we asked other districts to send their school calendars and requested information on how they were addressing student attendance concerns.

From this information it was discovered that there is a high absentee rate in both December/January when our Latino community travels to Mexico and then again in February due to both illness as well as families taking time off to go skiing. We decided to alter the school year to accommodate these periods of time, but we’ve decided to make this a two-year process with a couple of changes this upcoming year and the final changes in 2005-2006.

Following are some important dates in 2004-2005 that we would like you to be aware of:

Monday, August 23, 2004 – First day of school
Monday, September 3, 2004 – no school, Labor Day
Thursday, November 11, 2004 – no school, Veteran’s Day
Friday, November, 12, 2004 – no school, Local Holiday, end of 1st trimester (K-6)
Wednesday, November 24, 2004 – minimum day
Thursday, November 25, 2004 – no school, Thanksgiving Day
Friday, November 26, 2004 – no school, Local Holiday in lieu of 9/9 Admission Day
Friday, December 19, 2004 – minimum day
Monday, December 20 – Friday, December 31, 2004 – no school, Winter Break
Monday, January 17, 2005 – no school, Martin Luther King Day
Thursday, January 20, 2005 – end of semester
Friday, January 21, 2005 – no school, Teacher workday
Monday – Friday, February 14 – 18, 2005 – no school, February Break
Monday, February 21, 2005 – no school, President’s Day
Monday – Friday, March 28 – April 1, 2005 – no school, Spring Break
Thursday, May 26, 2005 – minimum day
Friday, May 27, 2005 – no school, Local Holiday
Monday, May 30, 2005 – no school, Memorial Day
Friday, June 10, 2005 – Last Day of School

We are hoping that this will increase student attendance which will result in increased student learning and decreased revenue loss.

Big Changes to Summer School
Summer school funding from the California Department of Education (CDE) has been reduced drastically over the past four years. Fewer and fewer students will be offered the opportunity to take classes for make-up, remediation or enrichment. CDE reimburses districts based on an hourly rate of actual student attendance. The number of hours is capped by a percentage of the district’s total enrollment. That cap has been reduced by 50%. In addition, funding for reading and math support has been eliminated.

In February, 2004 the district received a memo from the CDE regarding summer school reimbursement for last year. The memo indicated that because of big deficits in summer programs, the district would receive 22% less for core academic summer school and a whopping 47% less for elementary remedial summer school. The result of this action will cost the district thousands of dollars. In addition, it makes planning for summer 2004 very problematic. How can we budget a program that offers no guarantee of full reimbursement?

Given the financial crisis that the district is presently facing, continuing to offer a traditional summer school would be fiscally irresponsible. The district plans, however, to offer a very limited summer program and provide additional support for struggling students throughout the school year. Secondary summer school is scheduled for June 18 through July 23, 2004. Administrators and counselors will identify the classes based on student need. Students who need extra support to pass the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) will be provided test preparation classes during the regular school year. These classes may occur before or after the regular school day or on Saturdays.

Elementary students with the greatest academic need will be offered a two-week “Jump Start” program. Jump Start will be able to accommodate approximately 130 students. This program will be offered from July 26th through August 6th, prior to the opening of school August 23rd, 2004.  The two-week intensive program will be directed by individual student needs identified by teachers and the California Standards Test. CDE funds for supplemental instruction will be used to provide increased support for identified students during the school year.

Registration forms will be available for both the secondary summer school and the elementary “Jump Start” program in about two to three weeks.

For further information, please contact Bob Pape, Director of Instructional Services at 431-3480.