Edina School Year Calendars Getting Additional Review at Work Session

Edina's ongoing debate over whether to start the next two school years before Labor Day will get plenty of attention this week, as the School Board is set to discuss the calendars during a work session early Wednesday morning.

The work session—which is open to the public, though there will be no public comments taken during the meeting—is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. in room 349 of the Edina Community Center. Once the School Board has discussed the matter, district administrators will develop a recommended calendar proposal for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years to be voted on at the Board's Jan. 28 meeting.

District officials report the new calendars will be available for the public to view on the district's website by Friday, Jan. 25.

Based on calendars proposed earlier this month, classes would have started on Aug. 26 in 2013 and on Aug. 25 in 2014. For reference, classes started on Sep. 4 this school year.

Because of that early start, classes would have also ended earlier both years. School would have wrapped up on May 30 in 2014 and on May 29 in 2015. The 2012-13 school year won't finish until June. 6.

Minnesota law technically prohibits starting school before Labor Day, though a provision in state statues makes it possible for districts with more than $400,000 worth of construction to start earlier. Because Edina's 10-year alternative facilities plan includes approximately $10 million in planned construction for the next several years in building infrastructure upgrades, the district easily meets that threshold.

School Board members were unable to reach a clear consensus during their Jan. 7 regular meeting, when several concerned parents asked to speak regarding the proposed earlier start. 

The School Board's Human Resources Committee met last week to continue that discussion, with the main focus being whether or not to postpone the decision. Committee members ultimately felt it was important to hold a work session as soon as possibel to allow the full School Board a chance to weigh in and provide clear direction to district administrators.

The district says the proposed changes were intended to increase student instruction time, better align calendars at all grade levels and minimize the number of two- and three-day weeks in the year. The calendars would have included the same number of class days for students, but would have provided four late start/early release days to allow for additional teacher collaboration and data analysis.

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