~1/22/98 - 9/10/98
Opelika * Auburn News* THE NEWSPAPER OF EAST ALABAMA*~1/22/98
Guest Column:
By Stephen C. Kempf
Your Thursday, January 8th issue headlined an article concerned with the Auburn Public School SystemÌs consideration of multi- and single-track, extended year programs for grades K-12. I was glad to read that the committee looking into these possibilities has determined that the multi-track program will not be instituted since it would cause too many quite obvious problems; however, I was disheartened to learn that a single-track, extended year program is still under consideration. As outlined in your article this would most likely consist of a series of 9 week sessions separated by 3 week vacations during most of the year and an approximately 5 week vacation during the summer. Since the advantages mentioned by Dr. Freeman are of a questionable nature and minimal at best, and since there are many negative aspects to such a program, it is difficult to understand why the administration of our school system wants to waste time and effort considering a new type of school year for our system. There are certainly much more important issues that the administration, teachers, and parents should be expending their energies on. However, be that as it may, since the school system apparently plans to go ahead with consideration of the extended school year program, there are a number of negative aspects of switching to such a program that must be adequately addressed before a change in the school year is made.
1. Dr. Freeman is quite correct in stating that such a change will be difficult. It will throw what is currently a smoothly running system into turmoil. The result will be an immense expenditure of time and energy by administrators and teachers on re-working class schedules and teaching protocols. Such efforts will detract from the education of our children during an extended period and will place additional burdens on teachers who already have overly full schedules. Certainly this is time and effort that would be much more profitably spent on improving the current, standard, school year program.
2. While an extended year program may work adequately for Rehobeth High School in Houston County, this school is not located in a major University town. It is not unusual for faculty at Auburn University to take their families to another institution or research facility in the U.S. or to a foreign country during the summer months. If the Auburn school system changes to an extended year program that only allows for 5 weeks of vacation during the summer, how will provisions be made to accommodate the children of these faculty? Since other school systems will most likely be on a standard school year, placing children in those schools will not be an option. Having them do the lessons necessary to keep-up with an extended year program while other children are playing and enjoying the summer months will certainly be a less than pleasant experience.
3. If the Auburn school system is like the one I grew-up in, K-12 teachers often supplement their income by working a second job during the summer months of the standard school year. Such supplements to their income will become much more difficult and in many cases impossible if an extended year program is adopted.
4. Many K-12 students participate in summer sports programs such as baseball and swim team that rely on the current long summer vacation for their games and meets. These programs provide a valuable experience for our children. How will they be accommodated in an extended year program?
5. Limiting summer vacation to a scant 5 weeks will likely increase the chances that Auburn families will become the victims of crime. Burglars will have a much easier time targeting their victims homes since vacations for most families will occur during this short period. In my own case, it is not unlikely that more than half the families on my street will be out of town on vacation at the same time.
6. K-12 teachers who want to use the summer months to improve their education and teaching skills by attending summer courses at Auburn or other Universities will no longer be able to do this.
7. The 5 week summer vacation will limit the opportunities that a family has for their vacations. While it can be argued that vacations could be taken during the 3 week breaks between the 9 week sessions, the fact of the matter is that most families prefer to take their vacations during the summer months and that with University course schedules and other requirements it is often not possible to take a vacation at any other time.
8. It is not unusual for families to enroll their children in special, non-sport, summer programs, both in Auburn and elsewhere. If we are limited to a 5 week summer vacation, the possibilities for doing this will be limited since such programs are oriented toward a standard school year and in many cases will overlap with periods when Auburn children are expected to be in school.
9. Finally, the current long summer vacation provides kids with a chance to be kids. While they may be enrolled in sports or educational programs, thereÌs still plenty of time to follow their dreams, whether theyÌre hobbies or just simply going out to play. A short, 5 week summer break will have a major negative impact on this important part of growing up.
It seems to me that the negative aspects of switching to an extended year program far outweigh the few possible advantages that Dr. Freeman mentioned in your Jan. 8th article. I certainly hope that the committee considering the extended year program will realize this and, instead of wasting time on developing such a program, will re-direct the school systemÌs efforts toward improving our current, standard, school year.
Opelika * Auburn News* THE NEWSPAPER OF EAST ALABAMA*8/20/98
Guest Column: Year round education - Is this what Auburn wants?
By Erica Newland
As the summer draws to a close, thoughts of school are creeping into most Auburn City School students' minds. For some, it is excitement for the changes and motivation that the new school year will bring, and for others it's dread of the homework, projects and earlier bedtimes that are to come. But for all, this will be their last full summer break ever if Auburn changes over to "Year Round Education" as proposed by the administration. Enjoying the lengthy summer, students kick back their feet and discard any thoughts of school. They enjoy going to sleep-away camps in other parts of the country making new friends and learning new things. Families go on vacations because finally everyone is free. No classes to teach at the university, no school to worry about missing. Many participate in university outreach classes or park and rec programs run by university students who are off for the summer. And the high school students are working jobs to save for college that is soon to come. Summer - it's a time to let your cares go.
I make these points to help bring "Year Round Education" (YRE) into the picture. If Auburn City Schools changes over to YRE, then the care-free summer would be destroyed. The proposed plan for YRE has breaks of three weeks separating four nine-week quarters. School would end on Memorial Day and would resume shortly after July 4. The suggested change to YRE is supposedly motivated by the need to help students who are behind m class and to keep them from forgetting the basics over the summer. But truly, once you learn how to read or add or multiply two digit numbers, a tiny review is more than suitable, like riding a bike. Those students who are behind probably never learned the skill well anyway. There is a suggested remedial session planned for breaks to help students who are behind catch up. Statistics show that these sessions cause no improvement in the students that could not be accomplished in summer school. I quote Kathy Christie, an analyst with the Education Commission of the States. "Summer school is cheaper than extending the school year for all students."
Also, test results show no improvement due to YRE. Therefore, there are no academic advantages to YRE. YRE would more than penalize a majority of students. During the summer many students go to camps, which tend to run in July and August. At academic camps, students increase their knowledge by taking classes that are not offered at school. And at all camps, kids learn social skills, make new friends and take on different responsibilities. Also, religious camps which are run through out Alabama have been asked if they could adjust their schedules to match Auburn City Schools'. They said they could not; everything takes place in July and August because this time frame suits the majority of Alabama families. The world doesn't revolve around this town.
Another obstacle would be child care options. During the summer parents are working, but there are a variety of programs run by university students. These programs help keep children occupied while still having fun. But with YRE. university students would not be free of classes when Auburn students are. Although activities run throughout the summer, what about during breaks? What can a child do in the middle of January for three weeks while their parents are at work? The Boys & Girls Club has offered to run during the breaks, but what if that doesn't suit you? There would be an absence of programs, producing child care problems for many parents.
Sports, the heartbeat of our town, would also suffer. High school sports teams would be hard to maintain because of the difficulty of scheduling games and practices. What would happen when other teams in the league are playing and practicing while our players and coaches are on school vacation? Will they be willing to give up their free time to practice? They don't have to during the summer.
Academic teams like Odyssey of the Mind and Science Olympiad, which are long-term competitions that take seasonal dedication and enhances one's education, would be hard to establish because teachers and students will not be willing to give up their breaks to work. Therefore, our great reputation for having top-notch teams will diminish. The majority of students do not want their summer disrupted. They want to have time to forget all their cares. Middle school and high school students are given projects and reports during breaks, so they are not truly free. That's what is so special about summer; students are not under the control of their teachers.
It is argued that many cities around the country are changing to YRE, but the town of Auburn is unique because of our strong university connections. The two school systems' calendars should somewhat coincide with each other: YRE would result in less shared vacation times for families. The university proudly supports many international families. This is the one time in the year for the kids to see their grandparents without missing school. Three weeks isn't enough time to make a trip overseas worthwhile.
A survey was done of fast food restaurants, grocery stores and other places that employ many high school students. One question asked was if they would be willing to hire someone for a school break of only three to five weeks. Ninety-nine percent of employers said no. Priority would go to college students because of their flexible schedules. High school students need this money. It is for college and without it their future is uncertain.
Opelika * Auburn News* THE NEWSPAPER OF EAST ALABAMA*9/3/98
Article: Auburn City: School discussion in full swing
By Brett BucknerOpelika-Auburn News
The first step in determining whether Auburn City Schools will convert to the year round class system was taken Tuesday night.
The Alternative Year Exploration Committee held its first full member meeting at Auburn High School. The committee's first order of business was for new members to digest a packet' of information that encapsulated research the group had been working on during the past year.
The group was also given the task of deciding the best way for that information to be distributed to the public."We wanted in this meeting to lay out an agreed upon way to give this information about the extended school year to the public," said Auburn Schools Superintendent Dr. Mick Martin. "This is the first time IÌve seen a lot of these members, and they're having to digest a lot of information, over a year's worth of work, in a 45 minute meeting."I expected for there to be a lot of questions."
Because this was the first meeting for many of the 17 new members, questions arose about the information and the changes being explored. Some of the discussion centered around the December deadline for the committee's final report to be given to the Auburn Board of Education. Committee members expressed concern about an inability to give a complete recommendation in such a short time, particularly with so many new members.There was also concern too many members had expressed their favor toward the change, a factor that may lead to a more biased report, some said.
It was a discussion that didnÌt go unnoticed by the non-committee members in attendance."I really think they are rushing into this decision," said Dave Elton, who attended the meeting. "I think some of the committee members were right when they suggested they delay the report to the school board. Sixty days is just not enough time.
This is a major issue. If you have children in Auburn, this will radically change your lifestyle. It's something they need to take a lot of time to work on and think about."
The committee's major accomplishment was its decision to edit individual copies of both the long and short fact sheets to be returned to a sub-committee for revision. The deadline for the submission is Oct. 1.The committee was unable to decide on a date for its next meeting.
At the meetings conclusion, Dr. Martin addressed the publicÌs increasing interest in the issue."I think it's good that this issue has been brought to the public's attention," he said. It's an important issue and one that needs to be discussed.
"We want everyone to know that weÌll continue to hold a multitude of meetings and continue to explore all aspects of this issue. WeÌll be doing a large amount of surveys with students, parents, faculty and the community, as well as conducting town meetings, so we will have a better understanding about how the community feels."The public's reaction has been good, Dr. Maltin said.
"The reaction I've seen has been very positive," he said. "It's an issue that's important to the community and is a very emotional topic. But so far it's been handled very diplomatically."
There are still many issues for the committee to work on, including a sample year round calendar, how the change would affect students who work or who have regular extracurricular activities.
But Assistant Superintendent Suzanne Freeman assures the committee will keep the student's best interests in mind."We're just in the exploratory mode right now," she said. "We think (year-round schooling) has merit. We wouldn't be looking at this if we didn't. If we're going to make a change, it needs to be a change that will benefit the students."
Commentary: Year-round schooling has many negative aspects
The following pages are a letter that (was) submitted to the Auburn City School Extended School Year Committee at Tuesday night's meeting at the high school. Both my wife and I feel that there are many negative aspects to the proposed extended school year calendar that need to be brought to the attention of the citizen's of our community.
In the debate surrounding a possible change to an extended school year we have heard little that would convince us that such a change will have a positive effect on education and our community. The few benefits that the extended school year seems to offer are more than offset by the many negative aspects of instituting such a change. Rather than confront the negative aspects of the very real issues that surround such a change, school officials seem to reply to every criticism with positive "spin" instead of specific ways in which negative issues will be addressed. As parents with very real concerns about our childÌs education and social development, we would like to hear specific and detailed explanations about why the negative aspects, a few of which are listed below, should be ignored and, where appropriate, how the school system will deal with these issues.
Is it wise for the Auburn school system to convert to the extended school year now rather than waiting until at least the majority of other school systems in the country have converted? As pointed out in the Auburn School System's March telecast and also in a recent letter to the editor, most summer enrichment programs (most of which are outside Lee County) still revolve around the standard school year. If Auburn converts to an extended year program our children will not be able to take advantage of these excellent summer programs such as sports camps, science camps, etc.
The extended school year will also create problems concerned with the scheduling of school sports events that involve other schools not on an extended school year. Additionally, in order to take advantage of the various sport seasons, it will be necessary for students participating in sports to continue this participation through the numerous multiple week breaks during the extended school year. This means that these students will be forced to give-up part of the time that they are supposed to have for their interterm breaks. This will also interfere with any plans their parents may want to make for family activities during those periods.
Are there any REAL advantages to converting to an extended year program or is this simply the fad of the moment. Students who are in extended school year programs show no significant improvement in scores on national standardized exams, as pointed out in the March telecast. The fact that such scores have not improved indicates that despite the supposed advantages espoused as justifying an extended year calendar, there is no REAL gain in student learning. It also emphasizes the fact that the very REAL problems existing in American K-12 school systems are not addressed by the extended year program. It seems likely that the effort put into implementing an extended school year would be more profitably spent determining what these REAL problems are and instituting appropriate corrective measures within the current standard year program. Implementing an extended school year program will disrupt our childrenÌs education with measures that apparently have little or no REAL value.
Auburn is a University town. As such, things tend to revolve around the University Calendar. This fact presents unique problems when trying to deal with an extended school year.
It is not unusual for University faculty to leave Auburn for a summer of research or study and take their family with them. Such trips are of great value to the development of their children since they often introduce the child to exotic and mentally stimulating environments. The experiences a child has during such trips are an invaluable and enriching opportunity that should not be missed. If the extended year program is implemented, how will the school system accommodate these sorts of trips that last for 2 or more months during the summer? Convenient times for faculty, administration, and staff vacations at Auburn University are limited to periods either between terms or during the summer term (when course loads and student numbers are lower than during the rest of the school year). For most, Christmas break does not provide acceptable weather conditions and is often a time for visits to relatives. Spring break is too short for most vacations. This leaves the breaks at the ends of spring and summer terms, or the summer term itself as the only viable vacation time. In many respects, the same is true for other Auburn residents whose livelihoods depend on businesses largely supported by student customers. Contrary to the recent comments by school system administrators, these facts mean that an extended school year calendar will greatly reduce the flexibility parents have in planning vacations with their children.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of an extended school year calendar is the considerable negative impact it will have on quality family time. The current long summer break not only provides for increased flexibility in summer trip and vacation planning, it also is the time of year when parents have the greatest chance of spending quality time with their children. Summer provides an extended period of time with long daylight hours during which dad or mom can get home from work and still have time to do something outdoors with their children before it gets dark. This will not be an option for most of the summer if an extended school year is put into effect. The requirements of homework and after school activities will rob parents of this important chance to spend time with their kids. Similarly, it will not be an option during the rest of the year due to the shorter daytime period and subsequent lack of evening daylight hours.
A final concern is that of the stress that our children are subject to in our modern, hurry-up world. As pointed out by Dr. David Elkind in his book The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon, the stress concerned with our societyÌs emphasis on maturing too quickly has considerable negative impact on our childrenÌs development. Over scheduling of their activities is one of the major stress factors that children face. The increased number of short breaks during the extended school year will, by its nature, require increasingly restrictive scheduling of our childrenÌs activities. A long summer vacation allows a child to slow down, direct their own interests, expand their creativity, and become their own person. To omit the long summer vacation of the standard school year is to cancel the best of childhood.
Stephen C. KempfRita I. KempfAuburn
Opelika * Auburn News* THE NEWSPAPER OF EAST ALABAMA*9/6/98
Letter: Reader supports year-round system
The recent commentary by Erica Newland on Year Round Education (YRE), sums up the earlier concerns against YRE. Recently I visited India with my family, and there I saw all kinds of education namely, year-round, day-round, residential and so on.
Due to excessive enrollments schools and colleges started having shift systems. Parents, in their desire to develop their kids into "world-class citizens," are sending them to regular as well as tutorial schools every day.On the top of it, the typical Indian kid knows at least three languages, one of which is English. There are special schools mushrooming to train kids in "Spoken English." lt is needless to say that kids are learning several computer languages to capture the world software market. These kids are also learning traditional Indian values and as well as American values. Except for the roads that are narrow (even those are being widened), India is emerging as an all around education country.
Let us see YRE in a totally different light, especially considering the City of Auburn with its international community as Erica Newland reminds us. I am part of that international community consisting of over 100 countries. Under the present city school system, students can visit these other countries only in summer. And summer is hot. Water and electricity are in short supply in most of these countries, and airline tickets are priced high in hot summer due to heavy demand. So, we keep seeing India only in summer at higher prices and most festivals occur in seasons other than summer and we missed them for the last 25 Years.
On the other hand, if we have a YRE with three vacations of three weeks each and one of five weeks, the internationals as well as the people of Auburn have a lot of choices. People can visit their roots as well as the other parts of U.S. and the world during different seasons of the year. Three weeks of vacation is plenty for a visit abroad. If it is more, it gets highly expensive for everyone.
I propose YRE for all school systems, including colleges and universities. In fact we already have a kind of YRE with several summer schools and programs. The Auburn City School system is trying for a better one. Each town should have its own YRE so that its families will have a wide variety of choices for their vacation. This will help businesses year round. I also suggest that YREs to be slightly staggered to remove congestion. If we have YRE, there will not be much rush to travel during the long weekends with the dangerous traffic. Even within the country, with YRE we will have four opportunities for camping and vacationing instead --- four long weekends!
With YRE the current academic teams like Odyssey of the Mind and Science Olympiads and the summer jobs will reincarnate in new and all-year-round bodies! Total quality, total classroom learning (teaching without homework!), total year education, total year vacations, total world living, total brain (Mind) development are concepts for the new millennium. Auburn, with its total world population as its driving (teaching) force in the high technology areas at the university, should go for it. .
Finally the YRE will work really well if teachers abstain from giving any kind of homework to students during the vacation periods.
N.S. Malladi, PhD.Auburn
Opelika * Auburn News* THE NEWSPAPER OF EAST ALABAMA*9/7/98
Letter: Enough is enough: Save our summer
Over the last couple of years, the Auburn School system has implemented block scheduling, multi-age classrooms, a new middle school concept, has built two new schools and redistricted the school zones. Now they are considering moving to a year-round school schedule. Before we even consider a change of this magnitude, we need to let the dust settle with all of the other programs and changes that have taken place.
I personally want my kids to have their summers where they can enrich their lives and learn from the many alternatives available other than traditional school. However you may feel, I encourage everyone to get involved in this decision --- this is an issue that greatly affects the entire community!
Tom Hunt
Letter: Voice concerns On year-round schooling
On Tuesday evening this week (Sept. 1), we attended a meeting of the Alternative Year Exploration Committee at Auburn High School. The committee compiles a report and recommendation on a possible switch of the Auburn City School System to year-round schooling for all Auburn City Schools. Year round schooling would abolish summer holidays and essentially amount to a quarter system with three-week breaks between quarters. Needless to say, if such a switch were implemented, it would have a major impact on every Auburn citizen. It would dramatically change student summer jobs, vacation plans, church activities and family time.
This issue clearly goes beyond merely optimizing school resources and output. It deeply affects our community and must be discussed by the public.
The committee will present the report to Dr. Martin, the Superintendent of the Auburn City School System, who will give a recommendation to the Auburn Board of Education by December 1998. The Board of Education will then make its decision. The public has a right to see this report before a final decision is made.
Given the short timeline, when will parents be presented with information about the pros and cons of year round schooling? When will the discussion with the public start? This is not about block scheduling or splitting up middle schools. It is about eliminating summer holidays and changing family life. We all must have a vote on that in a referendum!
Much more time will be necessary for education of the public. We would like to be informed, in public discussion, by experts from year-round school systems. It is imperative that we also hear from experts in the school systems that abandoned year-round schooling. Auburn parents must get involved in this vital issue.
The next Auburn City School Board meeting on Tuesday, September 8, 1998, at 6 p.m. in the Auburn High School Multimedia room will be an opportunity to voice our concerns.
Bernhard and Milla KaltenboeckAuburn
Opelika * Auburn News* THE NEWSPAPER OF EAST ALABAMA*9/10/98
Article: Parents opposed to year-round schooling
By Lorie Johnson Opelika-Aubum News
About 65 parents, students and residents attended the Auburn Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, mostly to protest the school system's investigation into changing its calendar year to year-round school.
The atmosphere was full of con trolled tension as concerned parents tried to explain to the board they didn't feel like they had been allowed to have a say In the proposed transition.
"This appears to be a solution looking for a problem," parent Chris Newland said.Last fall the school system began looking into switching from a traditional calendar year with a 'summer vacation to year-round school with several shorts breaks.
According to a school system spokesperson, a committee of about 50 people was selected to research the issue of year-round school. Thc PTA president of each school was added to the committee this month.
System officials said the committee will present its findings to faculty, students, parents and the public before giving them to Auburn Superintendent Mick Martin, who- will make a recommendation to the board.
The board will make the ultimate decision.
Dr. Martin said they hope to make the decision by the end of December so the calendar committee, which meets in January, will have the necessary information to plan for the new year.
Parents attending the board meeting said they had not been involved in the process and were not being listened to when they expressed opposition to year round school.
"Citizens of Auburn, be forewarned," parent David Strobel said. "Your school system is going to year-round school unless you get active and call your councilmen and board members."
Lynda Rainer, spokesperson for Auburn City Schools, said Wednesday that misinformation had caused many of the problems.
Dr. Nancy Kincaid, whose children attend Auburn High School and Ogletree Elementary, said those breaks, instead of the traditional summer months, were precisely what the parents were against.
"A lot of the information or statements I've heard from (the parents) seem to suggest they really don't know what the committee is discussing," she said.
"The length of the school year will be the same. We are going 175 days now, and we would go 175 days, with year round school. We are just looking at having more breaks during the year, such as a couple of weeks off in October, at Christmas and at spring break."
"This changes the whole climate of the family," she said.
Mr. Strobel, whose children attend Ogletree Elementary and Drake Middle schools, said year round school would impact every facet of the community. . .
David Elton, whose children attend Auburn High, Dean Road Elementary and Samford Middle schools said he had noticed several flaws in the year-round school plan.
Dr Elton said he had been researching year-round schooling, as well.
"Only three percent of the school systems in the U.S. are on year-round school, and some of those, after trying it, voted to go back to a regular calendar.
Mr. Strobel said there was "no proof that attending school year-round improves scholastic achievement." He said it had been proven that it would cost the system more money.
At the board meeting, Dr. Martin pointed to Auburn's 2020 report as one of the main reasons the board was looking into year-round school.
The 2020 report was produced by a committee of Auburn citizens, formed by the city council to examine ways to improve Auburn.
Ms. Rainer said three subcommittees of the 2020 committee proposed investigating year-round school.
Mr. Elton said that just wasn't so.
"The 2020 report is not a mandate to go to year-round school," he said.
Ms. Rainer said year-round school was, "not a done deal."
Article: Year-round schooling debated
By Jeff AyresOpelika-Auburn News
Year-round schooling simply has more disadvantages than advantages and likely won't enhance students' classroom performance, a group of Auburn parents said last night.
A number of residents attended a community meeting Wednesday at the Auburn City Library to discuss the possibility of year round schooling in Auburn.
A special committee co-chaired by Auburn Schools Superintendent Mick Martin, and Auburn Assistant Schools Superintendent Suzanne Freeman is looking into that possibility and is expected to make a recommendation to the Auburn Board of Education in December.
he board will then take a final vote on the matter.
The committee has not yet presented a formal plan or a sample school year calendar, and is currently studying the pros and cons of year-round schooling. Generally, year-round schooling works similarly to a college quarter system, in which school goes on throughout the year with breaks of several weeks between each term..
Auburn City Schools officials have said year round schooling will provide students with a continuous flow of learning, keep teachers from having to spend several weeks at the start of each school year reviewing what has been learned in previous terms and lead to better student attendance and more flexible planning for students' families during breaks.But those in attendance Wednesday said each of those advantages can easily become disadvantages if year-round schooling is adopted, depending on each student's situation.
David Elton, an assistant professor at Auburn University and organizer of the meeting, said he simply wants more people to get involved and have them be aware of the process as it unfolds.
"The reason I'm here is because I'm concerned about this," he said. "The reason why I called this meeting is because there are a lot of people who arenÌt aware of whatÌs going on, and I want to let them know."
Scott Enebak stressed educational enhancement needs to be the top reason to make any change in a school schedule, and said any non-academic advantages need to be de-emphasized.
"The only way they can sell this is academic improvement," he said. "It's too much of a hassle to go through all these changes if there's no academic improvement. To be able to adjust vacation so a family can go to Disneyworld in May...that shouldn't be" a major consideration, he continued.
Other parents disputed year-round schooling's effect on classroom performance, and Dr. Elton provided documents referring to numerous studies which found either inconclusive or mixed results regarding whether a new school calendar had a positive effect on students' grades.
Keith Warren said he wanted to get more information on year-round schooling before joining either side of the issue. He touched on similar efforts in Los Angeles years ago. That change to year-round schools, he said, was prompted by a lack of space for more schools to be built. Eventually, the school system there worked out a timeshare-styled arrangement to accommodate everyone, Mr. Warren said. "I haven't made up my mind yet," he said. "I want to understand both views."
Others contended year-round schooling would drastically affect their children's ability --- and time --- to hold summer jobs or participate in extracurricular school activities. A longer summer makes those activities much easier for students to take part in, and ultimately better compliments what they learn in class, those parents said.
"Let kids be kids," said David Strobel.
Earlier this decade, Auburn City Schools wrestled with the possibility of year-round schooling but decided to stick to its regular school calendar.