Year-round school calendar discussed

Leaders at one local school district broached the idea of changing the yearly school calendar to an alternative that cuts down on the long summer break.

The state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction calls the concept a “balanced calendar” approach, which generally means taking the same 180 days a year of school and not concentrating them all into nine months, then taking all summer off.

Nespelem School Superintendent Effie Dean said she’s noticed frustration on the part of teachers whose students are taking longer than expected to get back up to speed after summer vacation.

“Normally, it takes six weeks for recovery,” she told the school board last week. But it’s taking longer.

“So, I know you’re not going to want to hear this,” she said Wednesday night. “I don’t even want to hear it, but a lot of schools, especially with, you know, low poverty issues, do a year-round school. … I’m not sure it’ll go over in this community.”

Board Chair Jolene Marchand said she thinks parents would be fine with it, but teachers might not.

Having served on the board for over 30 years, Marchand noted the summer reading loss is subject of discussion every year.

That may be why teachers at Nespelem took care last spring to pick out books appropriate for each student to send home with them over the summer vacation, but it didn’t seem to help.

“There was not a lot of reading going on this summer,” Dean said, “so that means it takes longer for them to catch up.”

She said she would find sample calendars to aid in the discussion at a future board meeting.