While the proposed 2013-14 school year calendar for Warsaw Community Schools is traditional, one of the drafts of the 2014-15 calendar is a modified balanced calendar. Chief Academics Officer David Hoffert presented the three calendars to the Warsaw School Board Tuesday night. Hoffert said the calendar committee met four times this year. It includes parents, teachers, administrators and other stakeholders. While putting the calendars together, Hoffert said they looked at things like personal agendas, historical perspectives, even semesters, ending a semester at Christmas break and community input. A comprehensive survey on the 2013-14 calendar will be done in the spring, but 500 surveys were already done for the calendars. “On everyone’s mind was what’s in the best interest of the students,” Hoffert said. The 2013-14 draft will be recommended to the board Dec. 20 for approval and is a traditional calendar, Hoffert said. The first student day will be Aug. 13, 2013. Spring break will be April 7-11, 2014. The last student day will be May 29, 2014, with graduation June 13, 2014. Christmas break would be from Dec. 23, 2013, to Jan. 6, 2014. For 2014-15, the calendar committee came up with a traditional calendar and a modified balanced calendar. On the traditional draft calendar, Warsaw Schools would start Aug. 12, 2014, and the last student day would be May 28, 2015. Spring break would be April 6-10, 2015, with graduation scheduled for June 12, 2015. Christmas break would be Dec. 22, 2014, to Jan. 5, 2015. Under the 2014-15 modified balanced draft calendar, the first student day would be Aug. 4, 2014. Christmas break would be Dec. 22, 2014, to Jan. 5, 2015. The last student day would be May 29, 2015, with graduation set for June 12. Hoffert said in approaching the modified balanced calendar, the committee looked at a number of schools systems with such calendars in place. The end date is still about the same where school gets out now, but it would start sooner in August. There are more days off intermittently throughout the year. He said the committee wants the board to look at the calendars, wait to see if the state legislature does anything and the committee will survey the community on its thoughts. He said he then will come back to the board next year with a recommendation on which 2014-15 calendar to choose. Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz said the board will be asked Dec. 20 to approve the 2013-14 calendar and approve the two draft calendars for 2014-15, with final approval for a 2014-15 calendar in the spring after the survey is completed.
