Calendar issue back to OUSD
by Bret Bradigan

Another school calendar goes before the Ojai Unified District Board Tuesday, after an earlier proposal for modifying the school year was rejected by a 3-2 board vote after dozens of parents protested.
This modified calendar for the 2002-03 school year retains elements of the old one - notably, a two-week spring break from March 31 to April 11 for kindergarten through 8th grade students - while eliminating the October weeklong break and the earlier start dates.
Under the new proposal, K-8 would begin school Aug. 26 and end June 20. High school students would start school two days later, Aug. 28 and end two days earlier on June 18.
"Everything else is the same," said Superintendent Van Riley. "We do have the extra time for elementary for intervention work with the kids."
The calendar was hammered out in negotations with the Ojai Federation of Teachers, under direction from the board after the Feb. 19 board meeting, at which the earlier proposal was voted down. Parents objected to the different start dates for the K-8 and high school, as well as the shortened summer vacation.
Under that rejected proposal, the school year would have started Aug. 18 for K-8 and finished June 20, and high school would have started Aug. 29 and ended June 18 - the same as the current proposal.
Riley said those concerns were addressed in the new proposal, and the board would appoint a calendar committee of parents and other concerned members of the community to be included in next year's negotiations.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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