FARMINGTON — Davis students may find themselves starting the next school year after Labor Day, rather than before the holiday which is traditionally the case.
The proposed change is because the State Board of Education approved two additional days for training teachers on the core curriculum, said Mark Peterson, spokesman for the state Office of Education.
Davis School Board members will vote on the proposed change at their school board meeting on June 5, said Shauna Lund, communicators specialist for the district.
Teachers will start the school year on Aug. 27 and spend the week in training or professional development.
School board members had approved the 2012-13 school year calendar during a Dec. 6 board meeting. The State Board of Education approved two more days of training for teachers during its April meeting, Peterson said. School districts can use those two days only for training teachers on Utah’s core standards.
Ogden School District spokeswoman Donna Corby said her district is scheduling the two extra training days during the year, so they will not impact the start of school. The training days will happen as one half-day training session each quarter.
Davis School District opted to put the training days at the beginning of the school year in order to get them done.
Originally, Davis students would have started school on Wednesday, Aug. 29 and end school on Thursday, June 6, 2013. With the proposed change, traditional schools will start on Tuesday, Sept. 4 and will end on Friday, June 7.
For year-round schools, tracks A, B and C will begin school on July 25, as was scheduled in the original calendar.
A few other days have been juggled in the school calendar in order to keep the A and B days at junior high and high schools aligned, Lund said.
“We don’t want to start a new semester with a B day,” Lund said.
The spring break for the traditional school year is still the first week in April. Year-round students still get only one day off, April 1, for spring break. The winter break for traditional and year-round runs from Dec. 22 to Jan. 1.
Lund said district officials have received phone calls and email from parents who have viewed the proposed calendar.
“Most are happy to start after Labor Day,” Lund said.
Lund said having schools start the day after Labor Day “may just be a one-time thing. It may not be repeated in the future.”
To view the calendar, go to www.davis.k12.ut.us.
The email address to submit comments is calendar@dsdmail.net.
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