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Spotsylvania eyes August start, shorter breaks
Spotsylvania County families counting on end-of-August vacations and long winter and spring breaks may have to reschedule.
The School Board is considering a 2004-2005 calendar that would break an 18-year tradition by having students start school Aug. 30.
A second calendar option starts school after Labor Day, on Sept. 7.
Under both plans--developed by a committee of parents, teachers and principals--Spotsylvania schools would get shorter spring and winter breaks than usual.
Those prospects have drawn fierce opposition from many parents, who say children and teachers need the longer vacations to rejuvenate and connect with their families.
So why is the School Board considering calendar changes?
For the first time, Spotsylvania has gotten a waiver to the so-called "Kings Dominion" law--established in 1986 to require Virginia schools to start after Labor Day so theme parks, hotels and restaurants won't lose young workers and vacationing families before the holiday weekend.
The Virginia Department of Education issues waivers based on histories of bad weather or for academic reasons, like special programs that must start early. Spotsylvania qualified because of a decadelong pattern of days lost to snow and ice.
This academic year, nearly half of Virginia's 133 school districts got waivers--51 were weather-related. Locally, Culpeper, Fauquier and Louisa counties qualified.
Starting school Aug. 30--and shortening breaks--has academic benefits, said Edlow Barker, Spotsylvania's assistant superintendent of instruction.
It gives students more classroom time prior to May Standards of Learning tests, he said. SOL results are critical because they determine high school graduation and school accreditation.
Frank Douglas, who has a second-grader in Spotsylvania, opposes the calendars and the reasoning behind them.
"While I appreciate my son has to learn about Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, he's also got to know his family," Douglas said. "There's more to life than SOLs."
Shelley Whitt, who has two children in Spotsylvania schools, agreed, adding: "A full week off [in the spring] allows kids to come back rested and prepared for SOLs."
Whitt said several parents plan to present a petition to the School Board at its Monday night meeting to rally for longer breaks and a post-Labor Day start.
Another concern for Whitt: "A lot of people take their vacations at the end of August because that's when off-season rates kick in."
Under the two proposals, students would see three fewer days during winter break, and two fewer in the spring.
"Having a full week before and full week after Christmas [this year] seemed a little extreme," Barker reasoned.
A full week for spring break also seemed a little too much, Barker said, especially with SOL testing following shortly after.
"The comment we had from teachers is that it takes you awhile to gear students back up to where they were" before the break, Barker explained.
But, he added: "All these are merely recommendations."
The School Board has the final say, and could reinstate the weeklong spring break, Barker said.
Douglas said he thinks the county's teachers, who are already paid less than those in neighboring Stafford County, would eye other school districts if the calendar changes pass.
Stafford County and Fredericksburg schools set their 2004-2005 academic calendars last month. Both localities include two full weeks off in December and a week's vacation in March.
That's a much better deal, Douglas said.
Spotsylvania School Board member and former teacher Ray Lora said he's been "bombarded" with phone calls and e-mails from people unhappy with the calendars.
"I'm in agreement," Lora said. "Neither one [is] acceptable to me, and we're going to have to make an adjustment."
Lora said he does support starting school early this year since Labor Day falls on Sept. 6--later than usual. Starting after the holiday would "push the school year into mid-June," he said.
But Lora wants to see a weeklong spring break. "There is a reason why we've been doing this through the years," he said. "It's not time off, it's time well put to use. Visiting Grandma is an educational thing."
Another School Board member, Charles Cowsert, also favors the Aug. 30 start date this year.
"I believe that would be more beneficial academically," Cowsert said. "It may be time for our school system to go with that option."
Board members will set the calendar during Monday night's School Board meeting at the administrative office.
To reach KRISTIN DAVIS: 540/368-5028 kdavis@freelancestar.com