District 51 close to adopting new calendar

The District 51 school board is very close to making a decision about next years academic calendar.  Members say its likely there'll be significant changes.

Adopting a new calendar is a complex process.  There are several factors that the school board takes into account.

The goal is to create a calendar that works not only for the students academically but also for the community and parents.

Currently the school board is looking at five different options.  One that would keep the calendar the same, two that would switch to a four day school week, one that will start school a week earlier, and one that would extend it.

“We’re trying to use our calendar as an instrument to help achievement,” school board president, Greg Mikolai, said.  “We think we need to move away from that traditional calendar. It’s just how do we do that? What is that model going to look like?”

At Tuesday night's school board meeting, a lot of questions and concerns about the different options came up.

Members want to make sure they're all answered before a calendar is adopted.

The school board is hoping to have all the information needed at its February work shop. It’ll make a final decision following that.

All of the models were created by a calendar committee.

The board says when it comes to making a final call, it's impossible to make everyone happy.