School year calendar revamped

Grand Coulee Dam School District board members took next year’s calendar and turned it upside down at their Monday night meeting.

A printed calendar for the 2013-14 school year was given to board members at the district’s last meeting a month ago to give them an opportunity to look it over.

Look it over they did, and they were quick to note they didn’t like it.

Board member Ted Piccolo jumped in first, stating that he didn’t think the district needed to take so many days off.

The calendar that had started with Wednesday, June 11 being the last day of school, end up scheduling Friday, June 6, as the final day. Graduates will go through their ceremony the day after school ends in 2014.

The board did away with the Feb. 27-28 mid-winter break and voted to eliminate Columbus Day, Oct. 7, as a holiday, not realizing that the district’s contract with its teachers and public service employees gives them that day off (even though Columbus Day actually falls on Oct. 14). The contractual conflict wasn’t discovered until Tuesday when a report of the meeting reached Sandy Davidson’s desk in the administration office. She advised of the problem with it being a contract day off.

The board also plans to alternate Native American Day and Columbus Day off every other year.

The calendar proposal had been given to the teaching staff for comment; nine responded. One board member stated that nine responses hardly made a mandate.

After about 45 minutes of combing through the printed calendar, the board finally settled it with all five members voting for the changes.