LCSD Calendar Updates
Dear LCSD Parents and Families:
We hope your first few days back from spring break have been good! We wanted to provide you with an update on the outcome of the LCSD calendar committee process. On Tuesday, the Board of Education approved the calendar committee’s recommendation. The Board approved:
- The adoption of the school district’s current calendar, which includes a mix of four- and five-day weeks, for one more year (2019-20).
- The adoption of an extended year four-day calendar for the three years following (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23).
- The creation of optional, low- or no-cost academic and enrichment programs to be offered on Fridays during the three year implementation of the four-day calendar.
Once it starts in 2020-21, the new calendar will begin approximately one week earlier in August and will extend approximately two weeks into the month of June. School will run Monday through Thursday most weeks. The committee and the Board concluded based on research and stakeholder input that, in the long-term, an extended year four-day calendar will ultimately best serve student and staff outcomes. This is because it mitigates summer learning loss by shortening the summer break; provides great consistency; provides opportunities to extend learning for students on the “5th day;” will likely allow for greater teacher recruitment and retention; and will result in better overall pacing for students and staff.
The one year delay in implementation of the new calendar will both give stakeholders time to learn about and adjust to a coming calendar change, and also give the district and its partners time to create and fund 5th day Friday programs. The creation of high-quality Friday programs, and a design process that allows for stakeholder input about what students, staff and families want to see on Fridays, is a key part of the committee’s recommendation based on the stakeholder input received. Many parents made clear that having options for their children on Fridays when there is no school is an important part of making this new calendar work once it starts in 2020.
We have attached the 2019-20 district calendar, which is very similar to this year’s calendar. For long-term planning of your 2020 summer, please note that school will start earlier in August 2020 for both students and staff when the new calendar model starts. The 2020-21 calendar will be finalized and shared next fall or winter.
Thank you so much to all of the parents who provided input into the process!
2019-2020-Calendar-Final