The calendar for the 2010-11 school year was approved last week by the Colorado Springs School District 11 board, but not before the perennial Thanksgiving break question was raised.
Board members Charlie Bobbitt and Bob Null questioned why the district wasn’t giving a full week off at Thanksgiving.
Deputy Superintendent Mary Thurman said the calendar committee always discusses Thanksgiving break, but adding two days of vacation then means it must find two other days to hold classes. However, she acknowledged that "it is time. We’re one of only a few districts that have only three days off."
She said staff absenteeism is higher on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Average daily absenteeism for the district’s 4,000 employees is about 300 and on those days it averages about 500,tiffany cuff Links, she said.
The board approved the calendar on a 6-1 vote with Null opposing.
Last year, 10 of the region’s 17 districts had classes off for the full week. Not all districts have approved or posted their 2010-11 calendars, but there’s already been a couple of switches.
According to calendars posted on their websites,discount tiffany, Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 joined the full-week Thanksgiving break group and Falcon School District 49 left the group, scheduling a Wednesday through Friday break that week.
D-49 starts school in early August and takes two-week breaks in October, December and March.
Most of the region’s 16 other districts start class in mid-August and have a two-week winter break and one week off in March.
In other action at its meeting Wednesday, the D-11 board approved $524,000 for three bond projects. They are: $174,000 for a replacement server and software for the district-wide library system; $150,000 to replace two failing heating and ventilation units at Doherty High School,tiffany rings, and $200,tiffany necklaces,000 to replace boilers at Edison Elementary School.
The projects, recommended by a citizen oversight committee, were picked from a list of unfunded capital improvements to be paid for with part of the money remaining in the bond fund. The $152 million bond program was approved by voters in 2004 to pay for certain projects, and has been stretched to pay for additional projects.
All bond moneys must be used by the end of the year under IRS rules. As of April 1, the fund had nearly $1.2 million remaining.
The board also had discussion on:
–A proposal to change some benefits in its employee health care plan to cover an anticipated $2 million increase in claims in the next three years. The most controversial portion of proposal would increase the annual deductibles, a move opposed by educational support professionals. The board is expected to vote on the proposed changes on April 28.
–A request from the Colorado Springs Vocational Academy to take its proposal for a charter school to the Colorado Charter School Institute for authorization. The charter school group last year submitted a proposal to D-11 but withdrew it after the administration noted shortcomings in the plan recommended the board deny it. Several board members indicated they would prefer that the organizers reapply to D-11, but organizers said the CSI timeline was earlier and would give the school more time to prepare for a June 2011 opening. The request for permission to seek state approval will be voted on April 28.
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