Calendar, Administrator On S-D Board Agenda

(West Harrison, Ind.) - The Sunman-Dearborn School Board will take up a couple big issues when they meet at East Central High School Thursday evening.

The board will consider adopting one of three proposed calendars for the 2012-13 school year.

One of the calendars is a balanced calendar. It has the school year starting as early as August 1, with a week-long fall break and a two week spring break.

The driving force behind the consideration of a balanced calendar is vocational students. The Southeastern Career Center in Versailles opted to switch to a balanced calendar beginning next year. School corporations who send their vocational students to the center risk having those students miss several days.

There is also the fact that other neighboring districts have opted to go balanced next year. Lawrenceburg, South Dearborn, and Rising Sun schools have already elected for balanced calendars.

Those districts send students to the Ripley-Ohio-Dearborn County Special Education Cooperative, which shares personnel with those districts. Sunman-Dearborn would have to pay their ROD staff more to work those extra days.

Current 2011-12 corporation calendar had students’ first day on August 10, two days for fall break November 20 and 21, last first semester student day December 21, first second semester day January 3, spring break March 19-23, and last student day May 22.

A comparison of the calendar options, all with the Indiana Department of Education’s required 180 student days:

-Option A – First student day August 1, fall break October 8-19, last first semester student day December 21, first second semester student day January 3, snow makeup days or extended spring break March 18-22, spring break March 25-29, last student day May 22.

-Option B - First student day August 1, fall break October 15-19, last first semester student day December 17, possible snow makeup days December 18-19, first second semester student day January 3, snow makeup days or extended spring break March 18-22, spring break March 25-29, last student day May 22.

-Option C - First student day August 6, fall break October 15-19, last first semester student day December 20, possible snow makeup day December 21, first second semester student day January 3, snow makeup days or extended spring break March 18-22, spring break March 25-29, last student day May 22.

The school board will also decide whether to not renew an administrator contract.

The board meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. in the East Central High School cafeteria. The public meeting will be preceded by a closed executive session at 6:00 p.m.

A notice of the regular meeting included a note which read, “This meeting is a meeting of the School Board in public for the purpose of conducting the School Corporation’s business and is not to be considered a public community meeting. There will be time for public participation as indicated by agenda item 8 titled Public Comments.”

The public comment portion of the meeting will occur before the board considers the calendar, but after the consideration of the administrative contract.

LINKS:

Sunman-Dearborn Schools May Balance In 2012