DeKalb moves to shorter summer, more breaks during the year under new balanced calendar
Back to school will come sooner next year for DeKalb students. (AP Image)
As does neighboring Decatur, DeKalb schools will now follow a “balanced” calendar, which means a shorter summer and more breaks during the year for the system’s nearly 100,000 students.
And like Decatur, DeKalb is adopting the new calendar even though surveys show parents prefer the longer summer. DeKalb will move to the balanced calendar next year.
According to AJC reporter Ty Tagami:
The school board voted 6-2 Monday for the new calendar. (Board member Sarah Copelin-Wood was absent.) It will clip nearly two weeks from summer break and sprinkle those vacation days in fall and winter.
Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson has said students forget too much during the traditional three-month summer break. She proposed the new calendar after a survey showed most teachers wanted it.
School will start Aug. 5 instead of Aug. 12 and will end May 29 instead of May 23. This will allow a three-day fall break from Oct. 7 to Oct. 9 and a four-day winter break — Feb. 18 to Feb. 21 — tacked onto President’s Day.
In a recent online survey taken by about 4,300 parents, 59 percent favored the traditional calendar versus 41 percent for the balanced calendar, said Deputy Superintendent Kathleen Howe.
Teachers, however, overwhelmingly wanted the change. Howe said a survey was distributed to all teachers, and nearly 5,800 took it: 68 percent wanted a balanced calendar.
That led board members including Donna Edler to support the change. Teachers bore the brunt of budget cuts this year, and Edler said this was a concession she was willing to make.
–from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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63 comments Add your comment
The Deal
October 9th, 2012
1:38 pm
@Maureen, I agree with your sentiments with respect to your school system. But if Dr. Atkinson thinks this bone is going to play a part in not only retaining but attracting quality teachers to DeKalb County, she is smoking something behind the tinted windows of her SUV.
I also think there was absolutely no point in the parent and community survey if the primary concern was what the teachers wanted. She had the end result she wanted and worked her way backwards from there. The teacher survey was only sent out after she got unsatisfactory answers from the online survey.
Just bad execution and decision-making all around and, unfortunately, not a surprise at all.
bu2
October 9th, 2012
1:42 pm
@living
You are absolutely right.
DCSS is about the adults who work in DCSS, not the students or their customers (the parents).
Teacher Reader
October 9th, 2012
1:42 pm
Thanks Dr. Atkinson for showing me once again, that not sending my child to DeKalb, was actually putting my child first, something that DeKalb says, but whose actions show otherwise. Parents need to start their children in school when they feel like it. If a high schooler wants to attend a college summer program that ends during the start of the school year, parents need to decide where their child will get the most benefit and learning. Sorry, but it won’t be in DeKalb.
Kids need to play and learn a great deal from play. The summer time is the best time for kids to be kids, explore, learn what makes them happy and what they really enjoy and help them learn what they may like to do with their future. Summer employment will be more difficult for kids of DeKalb to obtain, as why hire someone who goes back 2 weeks early? Doesn’t make sense from a business stand point.
Even teachers complaining of burnout is a crock. What other profession has so much time off? Seriously most people are lucky to have a few weeks off a year. They don’t complain about burnout and such and work just as hard as any teacher.
Parents, you need to put your children first, and decide when your child will begin in DeKalb.
Kids wouldn’t “loose” so much knowledge, if they actually knew it to begin with. So much of what our kids “learn” is in their short term memory and just exposed to our children for a stupid test.
bu2
October 9th, 2012
1:43 pm
And the change in the Spring Break is a headache. For the 2nd time in 5 years, we have kids on different Spring Breaks. Its, of course, also a problem for employees of school districts whose kids are in different districts. Once again, there is an obliviousness to the outside world by DCSS and Atkinson.
Hillbilly D
October 9th, 2012
1:48 pm
If memory serves me correct, the original reason for three month summer break from school was so that the kids could help out on the family farm during the “busy season.”
My Grandpa, who was born in the 1890’s, said they only went to school for 3 months a year, in winter time. The rest of the time they were needed on the farm. At least in my part of the world, early to mid-summer (depending on the crop) is lay by time. That’s your slack time before harvest.
bu2
October 9th, 2012
1:50 pm
Last night was another example of their obliviousness. We got a robo-call from the district at 9:30 after our kids were in bed announcing Dr. Atkinson’s parent meet and greets. Fortunately it didn’t wake them. And they are challenging for anyone between I-85 and Decatur as they are way out at Tucker HS or Dunwoody HS in the north. The others are Lithonia, Redan and McNair in the south and east.
Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure
October 9th, 2012
4:55 pm
This is crazy to me, because I think it’s the first time I’ve seen complete consensus on this blog. Everyone here knows that Atkinson made this decision because it’s what SHE wanted…
If you think this is about teachers, you’re kidding yourself. This decision was made so that in two years from now, when test scores go up one point, Atkinson can go around touting the “balanced calendar” as the reason for this great success.
Soccermom
October 9th, 2012
9:32 pm
My first question when I see articles that mention polling the teachers about an issue is “Why should we consult the employees about how a business is run?!” I don’t know many other businesses that would do so.
just another teach cha
October 9th, 2012
10:10 pm
Many principals tried to persuade teachers to vote for the balanced calendar. I am not convinced that the count is correct. I surveyed teachers at my school and spoke with others at other schools, and the consensus was that most teachers preferred the traditional calendar. The balanced calendar has been on Atkinson’s agenda from the beginning. I do not want to return to work in July. I’d rather spend my summer with my family. If she really would like to know what we want, here it is…we want a raise. How many months does she have left in her contract anyway?
Jan Ferrara
October 10th, 2012
5:32 am
Please sign this petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/dekalb-county-ga-school-board-no-to-the-balanced-calendar?share_id=AFmGwGsIgo&utm_campaign=petition_creator_email&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
Cobb History Teacher
October 10th, 2012
9:14 pm
@Bubba
I sense your anger for what I reason I don’t know. Wheeler mom did well in her response.
As for the math I don’t claim to be perfect….but I’m sure you are. Yes, I understand the concept of representative government I teach history / social studies…duh. The issue is how the board handled it. My point was they had the gall to ask their constituents (you know the people they represent) what they wanted. You know like when someone asks you what you want for dinner…if you say steak you expect steak not bologna (It’s baloney in case you don’t spell). So with the board being a representative body you expect them to take the public’s input to heart as they represent us.
As for Dr. Hinojosa as superintendent he proposes the calendar, but he doesn’t vote (kind of like how the governor proposes the budget but the general assembly passes it). The board then looks at his proposal as well as others and votes.
On the topic of survey monkey for those who think that those wanting a balanced calendar stuffed the ballot box that works both ways. The 16% oops I mean 18% that voted for might really only be the 6% that voted three times (3 x 6 = 18).
Cobb History Teacher
October 10th, 2012
9:21 pm
@the deal
It’s not always about what the teacher wants. Most of us would prefer to work a longer calendar, but organization like “Georgia’s Need their Summers” and other such organization prevent the school system form lengthening the school year. Teacher are paid for anywhere from 180 – 191 days of service. Our summers, Christmas break and summer break are not paid holidays the board simply splits our pay checks into 12ths. This makes budgeting easier for us especially new teachers who might misspend. My advice for anyone who thinks this is an easy job would be to join us. we need good teachers. The response I get most times is either “not for what they pay you” or “I’d kill some kid.” You see it’s not that easy. Imagine your child on their worst day and multiply that by say 5 or 10. That is how many days turn out.
Cobb History Teacher
October 10th, 2012
9:34 pm
@Soccermom
Why should only the parents of children who don’t teach in the system be polled. Many teacher have children in their own school system. Don’t their opinions count as well? Don’t tell me that only non-teacher parents opinions count. Of course this is a system where we let people who aren’t professional educators run the system (school boards are not generally made up of educators). Hey maybe we should let non-medical people tell doctors and nurses how to treat their patients? If it’s good enough for the system that creates those doctors and nurses then it should be good enough for the medical establishment.
You see bottom line most people have an over simplified understanding of education and what educators do. This is generally due to the fact that their only experience with education is from the students side of the desk and it all seems so easy come in take attendance, give some orders and wala!
What most people don’t see is the hours of planning, research, grading, record keeping, peace making, counseling, and the half a dozen other things teachers have to do. Now I can only speak from the middle school perspective, but most of us manage more students alone (I currently have 140 students on my roll) that the average head of a small company does and they have secretaries, book keepers, payroll specialists, human resource personnel etc.