The "Balanced Calendar" issue

As many (but I am not sure most) people of Williamson County know, the county School Board is proposing a very drastic change to the school calendar beginning with the 2006-2007 year.

Be aware: If the board approves this calendar your 2006 summer vacation will be chopped off by almost a month. Students would return to classes on July 24.

In the "public comment" time of the board's meeting on Monday, Nov. 21, I advised the board thus:

I await explanations of what educational benefit will be gained from such an enormous restructuring of the entire county's annual schedules. The proposed calendar affects far more than teachers, administrators and school families. It is a profound mistake to see this proposed calendar as simply a schools issue.

This calendar will affect almost every aspect of life in Williamson County, including businesses, churches, preschools and summer programs. All of these activities, as well as many business-revenue cycles, are tied closely to the existing calendar.

This proposal is not just another item on the to-do list for the Board. It is tremendous in scope and needs to be treated that way. While I recognize that this board has the legal authority to take the decision to emplace the calendar, I urge you to understand that the scope of this proposal goes so far beyond schools alone as to remove from your jurisdiction either the social or moral authority to decide this proposal. I therefore move, not as a board member but as a voter, that after the board's deliberations of the proposal are complete, that you place this issue before all the county's residents in a referendum.

I have some other reservations about the proposed calendar that I expressed to the board, but I'll save them for another posting on this site.

Yes, there is an automated telephone survey planned. According to the WCS calendar page,

Director of Schools Dr. Rebecca Sharber will use the district’s phone system to survey parents about the proposed calendar on Monday, December 5 beginning at 7 p.m. Parents are encouraged to review the calendar before participating in the survey.

This is very weak! A "balanced" calendar (meaning what most of the rest of the country calls a "year-round" calendar) needs more than a mere "review" by parents, most of whom are not very familiar with the concept.

The process for this calendar's adoption excludes informed public comment and debate. Ordinarily, the proposed calendar is announced, the board receives comments from those who wish to make them, and the calendar is approved.

But this is not ordinary. It is a very major change. Routine procedures should not be used. Frankly, public servants in elective offices should have figured this out on their own.

More coming.

Endnote: Here are Rebecca Sharber's contact information and Williamson County School Board email addresses.