Families in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. say they have no concerns with this year’s school calendar, which resulted in school starting a week later than usual.
The BCSC school board in October voted to adopt the calendar that changed the first day of school to Aug. 8 this year compared to Aug. 2 a year ago. A full-week of Thanksgiving break that students have been accustomed to has been shortened to three days this year.
The adjustments were evaluated by a committee using results from a survey sent out to the community, said Teresa Heiny, assistant superintendent for human resources.
“What the community told us is that they wanted to start as late as possible and get out as late as possible,” Heiny said.
Shortening the Thanksgiving break helped the district to do that, she said.
Other changes in the school calendar moved the guaranteed week of spring break to the second week; the first week of spring break could be used for snow make-up days, she said.
The survey results also showed that families did not want Good Friday used as a snow make-up day, Heiny said.
“We followed whatever (the public’s) suggestions were,” Heiny said.
Parent Amy Jackson, whose son Connor will be a senior at Columbus North, said she has no concerns about the new calendar.
Parent Stevi Huguenard-Davis said she is also fine with the calendar changes.
Huguenard-Davis’ daughter, Claire Davis, will be in seventh-grade at Northside Middle School. Her son, Jackson Davis, will be a sophomore at Columbus North High School.
While Huguenard-Davis said her family wouldn’t be affected by the shortened week of Thanksgiving break, impacts could be different for other families.
For families wishing to travel long distances over Thanksgiving, it could be a hardship, she said, however.
The changes allow BCSC to be in session for 180 days, as required by the state.
The county’s other public school system, Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. in Hope, will follow the same school year calendar.
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Under the approved Bartholomew Consolidated and Flat Rock-Hawcreek school calendars, instruction will begin and end on the following days:
- 2018-19: First student day, Aug. 8; last student day, May 30
Fall break will be on the following days:
- 2018-19: Oct. 8-12
Winter break will be on the following days:
- 2018-19: Dec. 24-Jan. 6
The guaranteed week of spring break will be on the following days:
- 2018-19: March 18-22
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