Calendar shift makes little sense

How many parents in Burbank are aware of the altered school calendar that the Burbank Unified School District adopted on Jan. 19 for the 2006-07 year with school starting in August? Were letters sent home to parents notifying them of the changes, which will begin in less than six months? I found out by reading my child's elementary school newsletter in late February. And then I saw the Feb. 28 story in the Burbank Leader ("School year to start earlier," March 1). If I hadn't read either of those publications, boy would I and many other parents been in for a surprise come summer time.

The district's goal, according to Assistant Supt. of Instructional Services Joel Shapiro, quoted in the Burbank Leader story, is " ? to make the first semester end before winter break," so that students won't forget material after vacation before taking final exams. For that to happen, school would eventually have to start around Aug. 14. Are the majority of Burbank parents OK with this?

Take a look at when winter break begins: Dec. 23.

The only reason why Burbank Unified School District didn't move the start date any earlier is to make sure all buildings have air conditioning. What about building public support? When is that process supposed to begin?

Yet the first words in the district's mission statement read that "the Burbank Unified School District, in partners with parents ? ." Besides a token parent on a committee that decided this, how were the parents involved? Did the board seek out widespread consensus about such a change? I never received information from the district that such a calendar change was even under consideration. What would be so difficult or costly of sending out a brief survey?

What's peculiar is that someone in the district took time enough to solicit public feedback on the new design to its website. Now what is more important, the look of a website or the schedules of thousands of families? At stake is not just vacation plans but child care issues as well.

What's also surprising is that the Burbank Teachers Assn. went along with this.