I support a "Traditional" School Calendar in District 225 that doesn't start school earlier in the summer.

This affects our tourist industry and we should follow Michigan and other standards of starting after Labor Day, not earlier. The Jr. High and Elementary levels should not be impacted by the high school needs. Conduct school during conferences or find other days to allow exams to fit before winter break, not the proposed early start. Thank you.

The school already reviewed this and voted no against it last year based on community feedback.

REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA TO CHANGE!

I echo all of the similar comments regarding the desire for families to enjoy our limited Midwest Summer Weather and not steal this precious time from our kids or families. However, what’s more concerning is the simple fact that this decision is being driven out scheduling concerns of our oldest students which represent a significant minority of our overall student population. This scheduling change may not be of substantial concern for our older students (who again are the sole group benefiting from this change), yet this change would have extreme negative impacts for the students in grades k through 8 – the ages that represent the significant majority of our overall student population as well as the age group that need their summers most! I would suggest deeper consideration should be taken at reviewing the real issue(s) with our approach to how finals are planned, scheduled, and administered for our old students refrain from knee jerk scheduling changes that punish the significant majority of our school children. Furthermore, the overall and total impact across not just ALL students, but also the surrounding community needs to be considered, as many park district programs, summer camps, pools, etc would also require changes not just to their schedules, but also program content due to differences in weather.

I am not for this change. There has to be an alternative solution to this problem.

The collegiate schedule would interfere with students ability to enjoy the family time and stress relieving activities (camp, trips, down time) that summer brings. The month of May is NOT summer! August IS summer. I agree that shifting the schedule to have finals before winter break only puts the stress over different holidays.

I prefer the traditional school calendar for multiple reasons. My high school students do not feel pressure over break to study and I feel the cons outweigh the pros for a non-traditional schedule (not collegiate as my college student starts around Aug 24 each year).

I am against thr earlier start to school year

A post Labor Day start gives our kids and families (and teachers!) a needed summer break and a focused, strong start in the fall. Our natural treasure, Lake Michigan, is still 64 degrees at the end of June. Let us enjoy our true summer when we can. Thank you for listening to our feedback.

Yes. Start after labor day. A short stint then long weekend just messed with their schedules and nothing is being accomplished at school prior to labor day due to its anticipation.

I am in complete disagreement with starting school earlier in August. I recommend that we follow our neighboring states and start after labor day. Our present climate in the north midwest is not conducive to getting started earlier or getting out earlier. The lack of transparency from our board is shameful.

D30 family

I feel it’s wrong to steal the summer from these kids!! We all know chicagoland weather and June is typically cold and August warm. They will have their entire adult lives to work through summer. They should at least be aloud to enjoy it as children!!

I would love for my kids to go back after Labor Day!!! The longer we can enjoy summer together, the better!!!

If we are concerned about so much stress hanging over kids’ heads before break, perhaps asking a question about the calendar is not the right question. Maybe we should be asking whether finals and the process that accompanies finals, where we study every last detail again in every class with a study sheet handed out just a few days prior, could or should be modified rather than the calendar?

If the problem is really having finals right after the winter break, then have them later in January! The idea of starting earlier in August is sad for where we live. Our climate in Chicago is such that our nicest months are July, August, and September. It would make sense to start school after labor day, finish first semester later in January or early feb then go to school until later in June. Our kids need to be able to enjoy our few nice weather months. Starting earlier in August would be detrimental. Thank you for your consideration.

I would like the District 225 Superintendent and School Board to know that I do not want the school year (proposed for 2019-2020 and beyond) to start a week earlier in August. I do not support 18 weeks of school without any significant break. The Superintendent and School Board should have included parents and students in the decision making

Kids also need summer and this ruins a lot of what they can do. I’d support it going later into June vs starting mid summer.

Start same time as always, but have shorter 1st semester and longer second semester.

I do not support the change.