Calendar shift will be a benefit to Burbank students

Several school districts in Los Angeles County have already adopted this calendar. Some, such as the William S. Hart Union High School District in Valencia, have used this calendar for years with good results. Also, I have found that many providers of summer camps and other educational activities have moved, or are anticipating moving, the dates of their programs, as more of their client base demands offerings that are completed by mid-August.

This year, the board approved starting school on the Thursday prior to Labor Day. As Crosby correctly surmised, this served, in part, as a test to see how the parent community responded to starting before Labor Day. There was concern that the district would experience a high absentee level the Thursday and Friday before Labor Day. As it turned out, the district had around 300 students absent those days, just about the same as had been experienced at the beginning of school previously.

This next year, the district is moving the calendar three more days back, to start one full week prior to Labor Day.

In doing so, the board of education has committed to refrain from moving the start date any further back until the modernization projects are completed at our remaining campuses (McKinley and Providencia elementary, Luther Burbank Middle and Monterey High schools).

The current timeline is for completion to occur by early 2009, so any further changes won't transpire until the 2009-10 school year.

Hopefully, this gives more insight into our anticipated future calendar and why this change will be beneficial to our student population. Adoption of the final calendar configuration will only come after all our schools are air conditioned, all our employee bargaining units agree to the change, and a majority of the community is supportive. As we move ahead, the relative merits of this plan will be thoroughly debated by PTA, school site councils, booster clubs and other interested parties.

I look forward to receiving input on this and other issues that face our district, so I can make the best decisions possible, to the benefit of every student served.