OKCPS Considers School Calendar Change

Monday, November 7th 2016, 10:37 pm

By: News 9

Board members with Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) are considering a change in the district's calendar.

According to a special committee, since the current calendar was implemented five years ago, achievement has gone down in some areas.

For the last few months, they've been studying the possible impacts of other calendar options.

Right now, OKCPS is on what's called a "Continuous Learning Calendar" or CLC.

It has an earlier start date, a shorter summer break and extended breaks in fall and spring.

The traditional calendar has a later start date, longer summer break and fewer breaks throughout the year.

And the hybrid is a combination of the two.

Surveys sent to parents, showed the majority of moms and dads like the way things are. Carrie Prough is one of them.

“If we need child care for the breaks, the expenses are split up during the year instead of all just being during the summer time,” she explained.

According to those surveyed, students preferred the CLC and 71 percent of teachers who took the survey also preferred the CLC. Principals who participated were split, with a small majority saying they do not like the current calendar. The committee reported 53 percent of principals preferred the hybrid calendar in the survey.

Click here to view full survey results.

The committee said a traditional calendar would mean more time to prepare for the school year and about $525,000 in utility savings.

But for Prough, another change may not be worth that money.

“We’ve suffered a lot of things this year with cutbacks, with budgets, and we’ve lost teachers and we’ve shifted start times of schools and so this is one thing we’ve all said we wanted. And so, can we just keep this one thing?” she asked.

On Nov. 21, the board is set to vote on the calendar that would take effect next year.