The Whiteboard Jungle: Parents’ concerns have gone unheeded

This year school began on Aug. 8.

Back in August of 2015, thousands of parents signed an online petition pleading with the Glendale Unified School District to begin the school year later. For many, the early creep of the first day of school infringed on summer plans and enrichment programs. Besides, it wasn’t that many moons ago when school began after Labor Day in September.

After months of meetings at school sites and the formation of a calendar committee comprised of teachers and parents, the new school year will start on Aug. 14 — a mere six days later than the current start of school.

The new calendar, released before the Thanksgiving break, was approved by the school board with a 3-2 vote. The end of the school year will be three days later, meaning that the complete school year calendar remains at 43 weeks.

Summer vacation stays at nine weeks, four weeks for those children enrolled in summer school.

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So, what was the point of all the machinations of seeking input from all stakeholders and then coming up with basically the same plan that has been in place for the past few years?

That’s what parent Sarah Rush would like to know. She and many others are dismayed that, despite the protestation of starting school later, nothing changed.

“It was an overwhelming consensus that our 18,000 families wanted a longer summer and a start date after the third week of August,” Rush said. “If public outcry is unheeded, then all of the meetings were a waste of our time and taxpayer funds.”

Board member Greg Krikorian, who, along with Armina Gharpetian, board president, voted against the new calendar, sympathizes with those parents who are upset that the start of school wasn’t delayed later.

“We need to put students and parents first,” Krikorian said during a recent school board meeting. “Family time is crucial.”

Rush said she encourages parents who feel likewise to let their opinions be heard by emailing school board members and attending a school board meeting on Dec. 13.

Curiously, school districts neighboring Glendale have easily figured out how to plan 180 instructional days that accommodate the wishes of families.

While Burbank school officials have pushed the start of school up to mid-August, they have kept the year to 41 weeks due to fewer days off, leaving 11 weeks of summer vacation. Next year, Burbank children return on Aug. 14, but end May 24, before Memorial Day.

And La Cañada Unifed schools, while providing two additional days of instruction, still contain the school year within 42 weeks.

Yet somehow Glendale can’t seem to keep schools open long enough between August and June so that school can start later and end earlier.

While the curious Friday day off before the Labor Day weekend has finally disappeared, the full week off during Thanksgiving does not help to shorten the overall calendar. And, to which many educators can attest, ever since Glendlae Unified closed for a full week for Thanksgiving, a teacher never quite gets the students’ attention back because, in a few weeks, they will be off for nearly three weeks.

Think about this: From Nov. 11 through Jan. 8, amounting to 55 calendar days, students are in school for 21 days, or 38% of the time.

Here is how the calendar can quickly be fixed. By eliminating the three days off before Thanksgiving, school could start on Monday, Aug. 21, or end on June 1, cutting the calendar to 42 weeks, providing an additional week of summer vacation.

There. Problem fixed. No meetings needed. A year’s time not required. Less than 10 minutes really.

In this space, I have proposed a joint meeting of Glendale Unified and Burbank Unified school board members to see if a common calendar could be agreed upon. That never occurred.

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BRIAN CROSBY is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District and the author of “Smart Kids, Bad Schools” and “The $100,000 Teacher.” He can be reached at briancrosby.org.