Schools

Stultz Revs up Smyrna Citizens over School Calendar

The Cobb County Board of Education plans to resolve the annual schedule tonight and Smyrna-Vinings Patch will be reporting live from the meeting.

The heated issue of the calendar could be resolved, at least for the next two years, at tonight's meeting of the Cobb County Board of Education in the Central Office boardroom at 7.

Comments about the calendar are expected to fill the public-comment period, starting at 7 p.m., and communications director Jay Dillon later will reveal the community response to the district’s online calendar survey. Smyrna-Vinings Patch will be reporting live from the meeting beginning with the public comments; you can find the article on the home page just before 7 or go directly to http://patch.com/buRLA.

The survey, launched last Friday and concluded earlier this afternoon, asked people to choose among three options for next year’s school calendar, with that choice carrying through to 2012-13. All three calendars would provide two weeks off during the Christmas/New Year's holidays.

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of Post 2 got more than an earful Wednesday night from local teachers and parents at a public forum held at the Campbell High School Auditorium.

“I appreciate him coming out and taking the public’s opinion,’’ said Nickajack Elementary School teacher, Eric Homansky. “But I feel if the public opinion is so swayed in one direction, as a voted a official, he needs to take that into consideration.’’

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A majority of those in attendance Wednesday night expressed in favor of keeping the current balanced calendar, with school starting Aug. 1 and four weeklong vacations throughout the 2011-12 school year. The first semester of 88 days would end in December, and the 92-day second semester would start when school resumed in January.

The other two options are variations on the traditional calendar. The Aug. 15 start choice provides two weeklong vacations, and the Aug. 17 start offers only one weeklong vacation during the school year. The difference between them is that the Aug. 15 calendar provides a full week off for Thanksgiving.

This is the first year Cobb County has used the balanced calendar and Stultz commented that tonight he would suggest compromised calendar versions with starting dates of Aug. 8 in 2011 and Aug. 13 in 2012.

“When I ran for office,’’ the first-year board member said, “I said I was in support for a later school date. How a calendar would look based on that is still being discussed. I’ve kept a very open mind concerning this calendar.’’

Still, many among Wednesday’s gathering agreed with board member David Banks of Post 5, who told board members at their work session Feb. 9 that they should keep their “covenant” with the community and stick with the balanced calendar.

“First of all, we should not even be talking about a calendar. That’s the last thing we should be talking about,” Banks told Patch this week. “I’ve got 1,000 e-mails so far, and it’s running about 75 percent for the balanced calendar. I’m trying to respond to all of them and responded to a good portion of them.”

When asked Wednesday by a teacher in the room why the board was looking into the matter, Stultz replied, “It’s something myself and the board members thought was important to look at. This is a new board that has new ideas and it’s a new discussion.’’

That and other such responses revved up the crowd as some in the audience threatened Stultz with a “recall’’ should he vote against the wishes of his constituents.

“He’s trying to justify voting against the balanced calendar and what it comes down to is that it’s just his own personal opinion,’’ said Jerry Bontrager, whose son is a student at Griffin Middle School. “He’s ignoring the opinion of 70-80 percent of the teachers, students, the superintendent, principals and parents. It begs the question, what happens next when (the board) has something else on their mind that they want to look at?’’

Many proponents of the balanced calendar have expressed the weeklong breaks scheduled in September and next week, help prevent both teacher and student burnout. Others Wednesday night cited frustration that there is no yet data present on the affect of this year’s balanced schedule on test scores and teacher and student absences.

“It sounds like he has already made his mind up,’’ Homansky said. “It frustrating as an educator because I feel the breaks help. The kids really enjoy that break and they come back fresher and revived. So far it seems to be working.’’

Stultz, who briefly cited economics and district budget deficits as reasons for considering a change in the calendar, further drew the ire of those on Wednesday by saying, “I represent this community as a whole and we are in a situation that there are passionate people on both sides of the argument. And I’m not prepared to let one side rule just because they have majority numbers.’’

Later, Bontrager stood up from the back of the room and addressed Stultz.

“What I want to know from you is how as a parent, a member of this community, as a neighbor of mine, how you can justify going against all the teachers and parents that are overwhelmingly in favor of a balanced calendar,’’ Bontrager said. “You are basically saying to the teachers and the superintendent and the principals, ‘we do not trust your profound judgment?’’’


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