Sorry, parents: Dist. 158 to start school year in late August

Hundreds of parent signatures and heartfelt pleas weren't enough to persuade the Huntley Unit District 158 school board to start classes later in the year.

The board decided Dec. 17 to back the administration's recommendation to begin classes Aug. 25 - nearly two weeks before Labor Day - starting in the 2010-11 school year.

Classes will end June 10.

While the school calendar typically is not controversial, District 158 parents this year pushed for a later start date so families would be able to spend more time together during the warmest part of summer.

"I don't want to lose quality time with my kids," said District 158 father Keith Kampert, adding that he collected about 600 signatures in support of a later start. "I want to have it when it's nice out."

Superintendent John Burkey has argued that starting school close to or after Labor Day could hurt students' performance on spring standardized tests.

Longtime Huntley High School teacher Stephen Styers supported Burkey's recommendation.

"A late starting date is detrimental in many ways to the learning of the students," Styers said. The standardized tests, he added, "require immense amount of preparation."

Ultimately, the board was swayed by Burkey's reasoning.

"I'm happy with the compromise," board President Shawn Green said. "I'm going to defer to the hard work the administration put in to get this compromise.

Board member Aileen Seedorf cast the only vote against Burkey's recommendation.