Dist. 200 to consider later first day of school

The Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 school board will decide next month whether classes will begin Aug. 17 or Aug. 24 next year in response to some complaints about early start dates.

Superintendent Jeff Schuler said the district typically tries to start school on the third Wednesday of August. Over time, however, that has resulted in earlier start dates.

Two versions of the proposed 2016-17 calendar have been posted for the public to review. Schuler said when the calendar with the Aug. 17 date was posted it generated a lot of comments from families about the first day of school and several other aspects of the calendar.

"We tried to look at themes that were repeated by a number of people. We took the calendar to the new Citizens Advisory Committee and the PTA Council and got feedback with them and some of the same themes were supported," Schuler said. "There was a general concern with how early that start date was."

Schuler said changing the start date can be a difficult topic in K-12 school districts, as parents' perspectives are shaped by where their kids are in the system.

Families with high schoolers, he said, often don't mind an early start as much because many activities are under way before the first day of school. Families with elementary and middle school kids, however, usually prefer the later start, so they can capture the last bits of summer in August.

"I don't know that you're always going to find a calendar that's perfect and serve everybody's needs or interests," Schuler said.

The revised calendar with the Aug. 24 start date is available online at www.cusd200.org. Should it be approved, the last day of classes next school year will be June 7, 2017.

"It does impact the end of the year," Schuler said. "We're getting a number of comments in the opposite direction now."

For now, district staff is continuing to sort through feedback and preparing to recommend one of the two proposed calendars that will be voted on at the board's Dec. 9 meeting. Schuler hopes, however, that the board will take some time next spring or fall to review other dates on the calendar, such as the weeklong break for Thanksgiving and other holidays such as Columbus Day.

"It's probably been about seven years since we've taken a broad look at the calendar rules that we follow and it's probably time to do that," he said. "We need to find a calendar that we're most comfortable with for this year and take a broader look for next year."