Editorial: Make it a real winter break for teens

Winter break is half over. What have the teenagers you know been up to? Basking in some R&R after a long fall semester and stressful finals week?

Not if they live in Schaumburg High School District 211 or one of several other scattered suburban districts. Many of those students will be expected to finish projects, write papers and cram for finals that will be just around the corner when classes resume Jan. 5.

Seeing something wrong with that picture, District 211 officials have proposed ending the first half of the school year before the December break and starting a new semester with the new year. They say the move would lead to a more efficient use of school time.

It's a reasonable change that could increase student learning without adding costs. Besides avoiding an unnecessary late-semester disruption, the new semester calendar would follow most college schedules and leave open the holiday break for family activities. And students would have more days of instruction before spring testing and get a head start on summer jobs. Perhaps most importantly, it would reduce the need for reteaching after the break as final exams close in.

Sounds like a classic win-win. But things are rarely as simple as they seem. While the school year would end earlier, it would have to start about two weeks earlier in August. That could disrupt vacations and summer camps, and it would cause complications for families with students in both high school and the feeder districts with later starting days.

Another potential downside of the change would be that open time students have during winter break. Having finished finals, they may have less to do and less structure, which could lead to trouble. It's something for parents to watch. Some students already do: An effort at Libertyville High School last week had teens pledging to stay away from drugs and alcohol during school vacations.

As other suburban districts that have made the switch can attest, a school calendar change can be a tough sell.

Barrington High School is in its first year of the new semester calendar. An advisory panel recommended the change last year in a 12-page report, which received pushback from some parents. A parent survey and hearings were included as part of a transparent, collaborative process that led to a decision designed to work for most everyone. That is how the process should happen.

District 211 is taking similar steps. Parents recently received a survey and were asked to respond around the first of the year to help the school board with its decision. Those results will be crucial - but only if participation is strong.

Others have successfully made the change and tout its benefits. Many Lake County high schools, including Grant, Mundelein, Wauconda, Round Lake and Warren, have ended the first semester before winter break for years. Elgin Area Unit School District U-46 and Carpentersville-based Unit District 300 are more recent converts. Maine Township High School District 207 will switch next year.

We encourage District 211 officials, parents, staff and students to work collaboratively and openly as this proposal is debated. Other districts that have not signed on to the new calendar should give it serious consideration. It's refreshing to see a proposal that aims to put student learning first. In the realm of education policy, unfortunately that doesn't always happen.