Sean C. Morgan
The District 55 School Board approved a calendar for the 2012-13 school year, the first year of a new four-day school week.
School will start on Sept. 4, the Tuesday following Labor Day, while teachers will report to work Aug. 28 through Aug. 30 for professional development. Aug. 3, the first Friday of the year, will be a non-contract day for teachers.
Students’ first week of the year will include school on Friday as with all weeks when a holiday falls on Monday or students have Monday off. Those Fridays include Sept. 7, Nov. 16, Jan. 18, Feb. 22 and May 31.
Teachers will general work every other Friday, spending their time in professional development activities.
Christmas break will begin on Dec. 21, and classes will resume on Jan. 7. Spring break will run from March 25 to March 29.
School will end on June 13 for students. June 14 is a grading day.
The calendar 151 school days and 172 total contract days for teachers.
The calendar includes input from employee groups, said Don Schrader. It may still be altered through board action.
Present at the board meeting were Mike E. Adams, Billie Weber, Chanz Keeney, Dale Keene, Chairman Jason Redick, Mike Reynolds, David VanDerlip and Jenny Daniels.
Kevin Burger was absent.
In other business, the board:
– Accepted the resignation of Robby Robinson, high school language arts teacher, effective at the end of the school year.
– Renewed contracts with district teachers, but did renew a contract for Julie Thompson, a kindergarten teacher at Hawthorne. She will work until the end of the school year.
– Hired Connie May as a .2 full-time equivalent Title I co-coordinator for the 2012-13 school year. She was .4 FTE.
– Hired Jane Bubak as .6 FTE school nurse for the 2012-13 school year. She was .8 FTE.
– Approved and appropriated a $537 IDEA grant to be used for instructional costs for kindergarteners receiving special education.
– Appointed Leena Neuschwander as an at-large Budget Committee member. The district has two openings left on the committee. Call 367-7126 for further information.
– Approved a trip for the football team to camp in Spokane, Wash.
– Accepted the donation of miscellaneous exercise equipment from Connie Cross to the Sweet Home High School Transition Room.