School District U46 board members are split over whether to start classes earlier in the fall and conclude final exams before winter break or start a week later.
Discussion at Monday night’s school board meeting centered on the possibility that respondents to an online survey gauging interest in calendar changes didn’t realize that a later start — on Aug. 23 instead of Aug. 16 — would mean finals after the winter break.
“I’m concerned that without the entire picture, people voting on the survey might have been voting in a vacuum,” said board member Traci O’Neal Ellis. “I support finishing up the semester before winter break.”
Four of seven board members — O’Neal Ellis, Phil Costello, Veronica Noland and board president Donna Smith — support an Aug. 16 start. The remaining three — Cody Holt, Sue Kerr and Jeanette Ward — supported the calendar as presented, with Aug. 23 as the first day. A later start almost certainly guarantees the end of the first semester after the holidays.
“This could cause many detrimental effects to student success,” said South Elgin High School student Ethan Culver, one of the few students who spoke up about the topic Monday. “It gives students the chance to either be overworked from the amount of studying, projects and homework that has to be done over break, or also poses the chance for students to forget some content they have learned just before going on break.”
The only other student who voiced his opinion on the matter was the school board’s student representative, Eric Loera, who supports finals before the winter break. The remarks of the Streamwood High School senior were welcomed by the board, even though he would not be directly affected by a change in the calendar.
“Finals can be a real huge tipping point for a lot of students, whether on the brink of an A or on the brink of even passing,” he said. “Finals can sometimes be a pretty big part of their grades.”
While starting the school year later in August sounds great on paper, the earlier option would be less stressful for students as the year went on, Loera said.
U46 CEO Tony Sanders said the online survey, which was a first for the district this school year, showed that 46 percent of respondents preferred Aug. 23, while 27 percent preferred Aug. 16 and another 27 percent preferred Aug. 30. A total of 4,715 responses were given, although 3,689 were unique responses.
But board members pointed out there was no direct question asked to the public regarding finals.
“I regret the survey was not as clear as we wanted,” said Noland. “It makes me sad. But if I had to choose right now I would probably choose (Aug. 16).”
While she supports a later start to the 2017-18 school year, board member Sue Kerr said she supports an “outside the box” approach to a finals schedule, having the exams before the holidays and then having the first two weeks of school post-break for instruction and projects.
“We talk about our kids being life-long learners,” she said. “That doesn’t mean all the learning is done for a final exam. I think we could do something really creative if we do adopt a calendar like this.”
Sanders, though, told the board and the public it is almost impossible to have both a later first day of school and finals pre-holidays.
A vote on the school calendar is slated for next month.
raguerrero@tribpub.com
