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Community Corner

State Seeking More Control Over Local Schools, Now The Calendars

CT Post
Eileen FitzGerald Updated 8:11 pm, Wednesday, January 8, 2014

February vacation in Danbury will be the same as New Milford, Bethel, and 33 other towns in western Connecticut if plans proceed as expected to make school calendars more uniform.

School leaders in the six regions of the state have been directed by the Legislature to develop calendars that will be uniform for school districts in their region.

The goal is to find savings and help districts become more efficient with their funds, including in areas such as transportation and teacher training.

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"We have begun the conversation,'' said Danuta Thibodeau, executive director of Education Connection, which provides support to the school districts in western Connecticut. "The first step was to outline what a general school year must look like."

She is part of a state task force that includes representatives from the six educational agencies that support districts in their regions, union representatives, a state Board of Education member and a bus company representative.

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The other five regional Educational Service Centers are Area Cooperative Educational Services, which covers North Haven area towns; Capitol Region Education Council, which is in Hartford; Cooperative Educational Services, in Trumbull; EastConn in Hampton; and Learn in Old Lyme.

Among the guidelines the task force received from the General Assembly's Education Committee are at least 180 days of school, a uniform start date, uniform days for professional development and in-service training for certified employees, and not more than three uniform school vacation periods during each school year.

Of those, not more than two shall be a one-week school vacation period and one shall be during the summer.

"We have to submit by April 15 what our region's proposed school calendar will look like," Thibodeau said.

There are some ideas on the table for discussion so far, she said.

One is for schools to start the Wednesday before Labor Day and another is that all districts use the third week of April as the weeklong spring break.

Another idea is that all districts use Election Day as a professional development day and that other professional development days take place the day after Monday holidays.

She said the goal also would be to make sure there is leeway for districts to handle cultural and religious holidays.

While some districts have more school days than others, the state minimum is 180, and there will be no problem with schools adding days to the school year within the framework of the uniform calendar, she said.

The plan is to have a uniform calendar in use on a voluntary basis for 2015-16 and that it be mandatory for 2016-17.

Thibodeau said the group hopes to move it out a year, so the mandatory implementation would not take effect until the 2017-18 school year.

She said not only will employee union contracts need to be modified to satisfy the new calendar, but bus transportation contracts will need alteration.

Joseph Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, said the regional uniform calendar is an idea worth pursuing.

"As we look to personalize education, students will need to have options beyond those offered in their district, and passing a regional calendar would be a good idea for that," Cirasuolo said. "It's been going on in some areas of the state already."

New Fairfield Superintendent Alicia Roy said she's open to the changes, though she understands concerns.

"It's not going to be as seamless as it appears," she said. "I understand it's meant to save money and I can't scoff at that importance."

Some parts of the area school calendars already are linked to coordinate athletic schedules, she said.

She said shared professional development could be useful. But she said she has found one size does not fit all anymore, and teachers often need training to meet their individual needs. She said she's working hard to maximize learning for her staff and a single event will not do that anymore.

Brookfield Superintendent Anthony Bivona also said he sees merit in the idea, as well as problems. Common professional development training might be valuable, as would sharing transportation, he said.

"We have a shared bus with New Milford that takes our students to the magnet school in Danbury now," Bivona said.

"I do have a problem with the state dictating to a town what their calendar will be. Each town has their nuances," Bivona said. "Conceptually, it's a good idea. It needs to be thought out."

Thibodeau said she knows some towns will have to give up some of their particular routines to finalize a uniform calendar.

"I think there will be a forced consensus agreement,"' she said.

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