BENTONVILLE -- Some School Board members expressed dissatisfaction Monday with a proposed calendar for the 2016-17 school year, saying they thought it would more closely resemble a hybrid of the district's traditional and nontraditional calendars.
Board members and administrators discussed the matter for about 90 minutes. Administrators agreed to bring the board another proposal that includes a longer break in October than they originally proposed.
Calendar proposal
Here are key dates associated with the 2016-17 school calendar the Bentonville School District has proposed:
• Aug. 15: First day of school
• Oct. 12-14: Vacation
• Nov. 21-25: Thanksgiving break
• Dec. 21-Jan. 3: Winter break
• March 20-24: Spring break (state mandated)
• April 14: Vacation
• May 30: Last day of school
Source: Bentonville School District
The board decided in December to move from two calendars to one starting this fall. R.E. Baker and Elm Tree elementary schools have long operated on a nontraditional calendar, which consists of a shorter summer break and more frequent breaks throughout the year than the traditional calendar.
Judy Marquess and Tamara Gibson, directors of instruction for the district, led a committee that helped develop the new calendar.
An online survey of district patrons played a big part in shaping the proposal. The district received more than 5,000 responses to that survey, about two-thirds of which came from parents, Marquess said.
"That is more responses than I have ever encountered on a survey we have done," she said. "So I'm really glad people took the opportunity to give their input."
Survey respondents strongly favored keeping a two-week winter break and a weeklong break for Thanksgiving. Results were mixed on the question of an October break and how many days off they'd like that month; still, only 21.7 percent said they favored no October break at all.
Administrators proposed giving students three days off during the second week of October, with one of those days being a staff development day.
That was the most significant nod to the nontraditional calendar in the administration's proposal. The second Friday of April is also a day off under the proposal.
Joe Quinn, a board member, said when the board promised the community it would come up with a hybrid calendar when it decided to eliminate the two-calendar format.
"And tonight we're saying, here's 23 reasons we're not in here with a hybrid. There's a public trust issue with the Elm Tree and Baker parents," Quinn said.
Travis Riggs, board president, differed with Quinn.
"I never promised anything to anybody," Riggs said.
Superintendent Michael Poore said while there was talk of crafting a hybrid calendar, the board also directed administrators to seek the public's opinions, which came out in favor of something closer to the traditional calendar.
"(The proposal) is more of a hybrid than what this district has been used to," Poore said.
Gibson said the survey was the "driving force" behind the administration's proposal.
Board member Grant Lightle pushed to extend the three-day October break to a full week. He and other members also suggested changing the last day of school so it doesn't fall on the day after Memorial Day.
State law mandates the school year must start on or after the Monday of the week Aug. 19 falls, and cannot start sooner than Aug. 14 or later than Aug. 26.
Some board members wondered about the possibility of getting a waiver of that rule from the state. That would allow school to start earlier in August, thus providing for extra days off in October.
The waiver request would need to be approved by the state Board of Education. The soonest that could happen is in March.
Board member Rebecca Powers said she didn't like the idea of pursuing a waiver this year, citing public feedback they want to know as soon as possible what the calendar will be.
Also at Monday's meeting, the board spent time reviewing proposed changes to the district's elementary-school attendance boundaries.
Dena Ross, the district's chief operating officer, presented the changes as a starting point of discussion.
"Our objective here is not to push forth a boundary. Our objective is to get the best boundary lines for our district," Ross said. "There are no perfect boundary lines. Unfortunately there will be some folks who are not happy. This is a draft, and it's a raw, rough draft."
Much of the boundaries discussion took place after press time Monday. The board is not expected to approve a new set of boundaries until its next meeting on Feb. 16.
The district will host a community meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday about attendance zones at the Arend Arts Center at Bentonville High School.
NW News on 02/02/2016