Balanced calendar: NTPS holds third community forum

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North Thurston Public Schools (NTPS) held its third and last community forum on its exploration of a balanced calendar for the upcoming school year.

Held on Feb. 2, at Salish Middle School, officials from NTPS met with some parents, students, and staff to further raise awareness of the benefits of the proposed calendar.

NTPS Superintendent Debra Clemens said they held community forums to "engage with the community members and have both information and conversation about a balanced calendar."

A balanced calendar still contains the same number of days (180) during the school year, but the typical 11-week summer break would be distributed in short breaks throughout the calendar year.

"We think that 'balanced calendar' is a better description because when people hear the term 'year-round calendar', they think that we're adding additional days to the school year, but we are not doing that," NTPS Assistant Superintendent of Operations Monty Sabin said. "We're just taking the same number of days, and we're distributing them evenly throughout the year."

Four members of the balanced calendar steering community stood as panelists in the forum. They shared their expectations on the proposed school calendar and raised the common concerns and questions of the community.

"The most promising thing about the balanced calendar is that it can address the potential learning loss that students from lower socioeconomic status experience," shared Gordon Quinlan, an NTPS teacher who handles students with challenging behavior.

Anna Khun, a student at Salish Middle School, said the balanced calendar would help students come back to school after breaks without so much of a learning loss that usually happens in the long summer break.

Although both supportive of the plan, Chris Woods, CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Thurston County, and Casey Crawford, Principal of Woodland Elementary School, raised concerns on the effects of the transition period if the district implements the calendar revision.

Woods and Crawford, both parents of NTPS students, said there is a need for an effective regional implementation so that students of NTPS could still keep track of extracurricular activities like sports leagues.

A 50-member steering committee is still exploring the impacts of a balanced calendar on the school operations, programming, and staff. The committee is set to publish a detailed proposal based on community feedback in March.

The NTPS board will decide in May 2022 whether to proceed with implementation for School Year 2023-2024.

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