Framingham Proposing 4, Not 3, Weeks of Vacation in 2013-14 School Year

Framingham Public School students may get four weeks of vacation next year instead of three, with the proposed 2013-14 school calendar.

The calendar is still in draft form and will need a vote by the Framingham School Committee before it is finalized.

With Christmas 2013 falling on a Wednesday, Framingham Educational Operations Director Sonia Diaz suggested schools close on Friday, Dec. 20 and not re-open until Monday, Jan. 6 2014, a 2-week break.

School Committee member Beverly Hugo favored the two-week break saying it would allow for "incredible family time."

School Committee member Michael Bower said closing the schools for that two-week period, in the heart of winter, could help the school district save money in fuel costs.

The proposed school calendar also has both a February and April vacation scheduled; so parents would have four weeks of vacation during the year not three.

One other major change is a reduction in the number of early release days for elementary but an increase at the middle school level.

Town-Wide PTO asked parents to take a survey about early release days and parent-teacher conferences. More than 600 parents participated said TWPTO President Kim Comatas.

Seventy percent of the 622 parents who participated said there were too many early release days, said Comatas.

Two of the early release elementary days, in the proposed 2013-14 school calendar, were eliminated in favor of night time parent-teacher conferences, to accommodate working parents, said Diaz in her presentation to the Framingham School Committee Tuesday night.

Diaz said the Framingham Teachers Association union representatives Sam Miskin and Lisa Zanella were made aware of the night time conference proposal and that the Association did not have any issues.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

And become a fan of the Framingham Patch Facebook page, by clicking here.

Also in the proposed calendar, several of the early release Thursdays are now scheduled on Fridays, to allow for parents to plan for a long weekend.

Four additional early release days are proposed at the middle school level to allow teachers to collaborate and get professional development, said Diaz.

For example, there is a half day in May to allow for transitional meetings between elementary and middle school teachers. And there are proposed half days in October and February for grade level meetings for middle school staff.

This calendar addresses "problems we've been talking about for many, many years," said Hugo.

One proposal Diaz made - to reduce the number of days off for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah from two days to one day, met with some resistance from School Committee members.

School Committee member Adam Blumer suggested Diaz poll staff on the reduction of days of for the Jewish holiday. He was worried that many staff members would want to take the two days off, leaving the district scrambling to find many substitute teachers.

Diaz said neighboring Natick does offer two days for that Jewish holiday, but that school districts in Brookline, Newton, Sudbury and Wellesley only offer one day.

Under the proposal, families and staff, who observe the Jewish holiday could still take two days off (Sept. 5-6), but those students and staff not observing would only have one school day off - Thursday, Sept. 5.

The Framingham School Committee will take a vote to approve a 2013-14 school calendar later this month or in April. Until then, this calendar is a work in progress and could change.

***

Important dates in the proposed 2013-2014 school calendar:

First day of school: Wednesday, Aug. 28 for grades 1-12 (Kindergarten and preschool would start on Tuesday, Sept. 3)

Class of 2014 Graduation: Sunday, June 1

180th day of school: Tuesday, June 17 (with one Jewish holiday)

185th day of school: Tuesday, June 24 (with one Jewish holiday)

Winter Vacation: Dec. 23-Jan. 3

February Vacation: 17-21

April Vacation: 21-25 (Note: Good Friday is April 18 and no school)