Should school begin a couple of days earlier in August so winter break can begin a few days earlier in December?

Six out of the seven school board members said “yes” at Monday night’s school board meeting after a lengthy discussion.

They did so in approving the school calendar for two years from now – the 2008-09 academic year.

The lone dissenter was board member Leonard Ortiz, who opposed starting the school year on Aug. 13, 2008, rather than a few days later.

Ortiz said the board ran into criticism from parents two years ago when it started school that early because many families were still on vacation – and, he said, some youngsters just aren’t ready to come back that soon.

“Why are we going back to August 13 when we knew it created such displeasure in the community?” Ortiz asked.

The issue arose as the board considered approving the school calendars for the next two academic years: 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Sandee Crowther and Nancy Dietze, who serve on the calendar committee and made the presentation to the board, said the 2007-08 calendar isn’t much different than this year’s calendar, with school starting Wednesday, Aug. 15.

But in 2008-09, the way the days of the week fell, the committee came up with a calendar where the first day of school is Wednesday, Aug. 13.

Crowther said if the district waited a week, the start of winter break for 2008-09 would be Dec. 22 or Dec. 23 rather than Friday, Dec. 19.

And it means that high school graduation would not be able to be on Memorial Day weekend, but would be a week later, in June.

“No matter what we do, we’re not going to make everybody happy,” said board member Cindy Yulich.

Linda Robinson, board vice president, said she, like Ortiz, had heard from people who prefer that school start later in August so it doesn’t cut short summer vacations.

However, board member John Mitchell said he had heard of parents who took their children out of school a couple of days earlier than the winter break starts in December.

Board member Craig Grant said he couldn’t imagine trying to give finals to students on Dec. 22 or Dec. 23.

“I think that would be a mistake,” Grant said.

Crowther said some parents who are traveling for the holidays would pull their children out of school early rather than leave on Dec. 24.

And Dietze said the district would lose fewer students to family vacations with an earlier start in August rather than a later start to the winter break.

“It’s one of those instances where there isn’t a good solution,” said Sue Morgan, board president.

In the end, the board decided to accept the calendar committee’s recommendations on a voice vote.

The 2007-08 calendar begins on Aug. 15, with the winter break starting after Friday, Dec. 21, with classes resuming Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008. High school graduation is set for Sunday, May 25, 2008.

The 2008-09 calendar begins Aug. 13, 2008, with the winter break starting after Friday, Dec. 19, and K-6 students returning Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, and grades 7-12 returning Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. High school graduation will be Sunday, May 24, 2009.