BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
MIDDLETOWN -- Students would go to school for nine weeks and then break for three under a year-round schedule being proposed for one or two Middletown - Monroe elementary schools.
Students would still go to school for 180 days a year, have traditional holidays off and have a summer break, say members of a committee that put the plan together.
What hasn't been determined is which building or buildings would use the program. That, educators say, is up to parents in the district.
"There is no better time for parents to influence the education of their children," said Norris Brown, who heads the district's pupil personnel office and chaired the Alternative Calendar Committee. "The final decision is up to the parents. You will let us know if you want this. We believe it could benefit every child."
School officials say the change was requested by parents and would have several benefits, including better retention of material by students and earlier opportunities to help students who fall behind.
Selling the plan
About two dozen parents and staff members got a multimedia presentation of the plan Thursday night during the first of two public sessions to explain the program, answer questions and gauge community interest. The second hearing is 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Lemon-Monroe High School.
Under the proposal, the school year would begin around July 20 and end June 8. There would be four, nine-week sessions, separated by three-week breaks, plus a summer break of five to seven weeks. During those breaks, children who fall behind could get help while others could receive enrichment if parents chose. Programming during breaks would be offered through the school district or community organizations.
Surveys and a three-page explanation of alternative calendars will be sent home with students at all 13 elementary schools on Nov. 9, Mr. Brown said. A recommendation on where the program should begin could come by year's end, giving educators time to work out details for a 1999-2000 start-up.
Should the program be housed at a neighborhood school instead of a magnet school, parents would have the option of sending their child to a school on a traditional calendar, Mr. Brown said.
Parent Ray Roberts questioned how the schedule would work for parents of the 1,200-1,500 children who play baseball or softball each year.
Their program begins mid-May and runs through the end of July.
"What about our vacation time?" asked Mr. Roberts, who attended with his wife, Trish. "Most parents don't take their family vacation until the season ends. I think we're in trouble."
"I believe in the concept," Mr. Brown said. "We can work out the issues."
After the meeting, Mrs. Roberts said she opposed the plan, saying it's already difficult to coordinate the schedules of her three school-age children, each of whom attends a different school and is involved in after-school sports and activities.
"I can't even imagine what it would be like with one on an alternate calendar," Mrs. Roberts said. "I'm against it. I wouldn't want one."
