WILLIAMSTOWN — Grant County Schools is scaling back its proposal for an alternative calendar, opting for a compromise.

        Facing a strongly divided community, district leaders are suggesting only minor changes to the calendar to make time for remediation for students who lag.

        After first considering a year-round calendar that shortens students' summer vacations but gives them two-week breaks called intersessions in the fall, winter and spring, the district is recommending a modified version with only a few days off each semester.

        “This is a way to provide remediation and more time for student learning without making a drastic change,” said Ruth Odor, a district spokeswoman. “We just have to find a way to help the kids who are struggling.”

        The new proposal would add a three-day intersession in October and February for extra instruction next year.

        The school board is expected to approve the proposal tonight, becoming the second Northern Kentucky school district to adopt an alternative calendar.

        Silver Grove Independent Schools in Campbell County was the first last fall. Only three other schools in Greater Cincinnati, all in Cincinnati Public Schools, use an alternative calendar.

        Williamstown Independent Schools, a small district within Grant County, is also considering the calendar for next year, waiting to see what direction Grant County takes. Williamstown Superintendent Cliff Wallace had reservations about an alternative calendar, but he said Grant County's modified proposal is more appealing.

        Grant County began studying an alternative calendar last summer as a way to keep students from falling behind over long summer vacations and to offer optional enrichment programs and remedial help during the fall and spring breaks.

        Advocates of year-round education say it improves attendance, discipline and student performance, allowing schools to help students who are behind during the year.

        “They get so lost once they're behind in something,” said Beanna Bixler, whose 13-year-old daughter attends Grant County Middle School. “If you get lost at step 1, you're basically lost the rest of the year. ... We lose a lot of kids in the first couple months of school.”

        Opponents say the quarterly breaks are disruptive for parents and students, and the shortened summer vacation cuts into student activities and teachers' graduate studies.

        “They could not give research to prove it was the very best thing for kids,” said Catherine Pillow, a first-grade teacher at Mason Corinth Elementary who also has a daughter at the middle school.

        However, people from both sides say they're satisfied with the compromise.

        “We had to start somewhere,” Ms. Bixler said. “The modified version was the only way we could go and satisfy everybody.”

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