Dist. 200 sticks with same start date for 2016-17

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 students will begin school next year on Aug. 17, despite some parental support for a calendar that would have moved the start date to the fourth week of August.

The school board voted 4-2 Thursday to approve the 2016-17 calendar, which has classes ending on May 31, 2017, and includes a weeklong Thanksgiving break, a two-week winter break and a weeklong spring break.

Board members Chris Crabtree and Brad Paulsen voted no.

Board member Joan Coghill was absent.

Crabtree said she spoke with parents of students at all grade levels and found they had varying opinions on the calendar.

Elementary parents, Crabtree said, generally liked the idea of a later start, as they value more time at home with their kids at the end of summer.

Middle school parents seemed mostly indifferent, while high school parents, like Crabtree, fell on both sides.

"The version that we're voting on tonight, I'm not sure that's the right choice.

"I'm not sure the other version is the right choice. I think it's something in between," Crabtree said, adding she would like to hear more feedback from staff, parents and students for future calendars.

Superintendent Jeff Schuler said the first draft of the calendar, with the Aug. 17 start date, was posted in October.

The calendar followed guidelines the district has used for several years, he said, including break lengths consistent with previous years; holding school on Veterans Day, but not Columbus and Presidents Day; scheduling graduation over Memorial Day weekend; and ending classes as close as possible to graduation.

The district received some feedback from parents who said they wanted the date moved back to give their families more time together before classes begin.

In response, a second draft of the calendar, with an Aug. 24 start date, was posted.

However, the district received negative feedback in response to the second draft, too, this time from parents who said their children needed the extra days to prepare for national Advanced Placement exams at the end of the year.

Some parents of high school athletes who participate in fall sports said they supported the earlier start date as well, since sports already are under way prior to the first day of school.

One parent, Harold Lonks, spoke out at Thursday's meeting before the board's vote.

He said he supported the Aug. 24 start date.

"Why is sports driving the calendar? The priority should be all the students and parents as a whole, not a select group of athletes," he said.

Board members came to a consensus that they would like to take a closer look at the calendar well in advance of voting on it next year.

"There is a need to reexamine, revisit in a much more comprehensive way, those calendar guidelines and principles," Schuler said.

"I think we need to do that through a more thorough and inclusive process," Schuler said.

A committee of district administrators, representatives from the Wheaton Warrenville Education Association and the Classified Employees Association and community members will be formed to gather more formal feedback and make recommendations about various components of the calendar prior to the board's vote on the 2017-2018 late next year.