School district surveys about possible vacations

Jessica Salguero

The Board of Education will decide next month whether to change the start of the school year and possibly offer a longer winter break.

“If any of the calendars are adopted, the calendar will be implemented in 2016 following the January Board of Education decision,” Administrative Coordinator Zsuzsanna Vincze said.

The district conducted phone interviews on three separate dates for those parents who had previously voiced their interest. An online survey was conducted from Nov. 18 to Dec. 6. Students at LAUSD schools were also given a survey during class to get their opinion on the different scenarios.

“I chose the calendar we usually have with us starting in mid-August because I don’t see anything wrong with the system we have,” junior Giselle Rizo said.

Scenario one has an early August start date and the school year would end in early June. Scenario two has a mid-August start

date and the school year would end in mid- June. These two different calendars would have the first semester ending before the beginning of winter break.

Scenarios three and four have a possible start date in late-August or after Labor Day and the school year would end in mid to late-June. With these two calendars, the first semester would continue once students return from winter break. Finals would be taken in January and the second semester wouldn’t start until early February.

The fifth and final scenario involves a modified early-August start date. With this calendar, winter break will be seven weeks so that students can take a credit recovery course and summer vacation will only be five weeks.

“The credit recovery is a good idea but for the people that aren’t falling behind, it’s not really fair for them to have a longer winter break and a shorter summer vacation, since some people leave the country during the summer,” sophomore Jade Ajileye said.