Panel favors year-round schools

Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007 | 7:57 a.m.

The Clark County School District needs to drastically improve its communication skills when it comes to talking to families about why some campuses must switch to a year-round calendar.

That was one of the key findings of the Superintendent's Year-Round Study Group.

The superintendent created the study group after last spring's well-organized protests by parents who said they had not been given enough notice or legitimate reasons why their children's schools would have to move to year-round schedules.

The study group is made up of six parents and three community representatives, chosen from a list of 118 applicants, plus School Board members Carolyn Edwards and Mary Beth Scow, as well as two district administrators.

Since September, the group has met weekly to review such issues as academic achievement, the effect of calendars on families and school staff, operating costs and long-term planning. Next year the district will go back to ask voters to approve bonds to continue building new schools and replacing older campuses. The price tag for the 10-year project will depend heavily on how many elementary schools operate year-round.

At Friday's meeting, the committee came to agreement on several key findings:

The study group also set out its recommendations:

Four architectural firms are working on prototypes for the next generation of elementary schools, Edwards said, and one of the School Board's directives was for more flexible campuses.

The final report is due to Superintendent Walt Rulffes later this month. The School Board will discuss possible revisions to the district's year-round school regulations in December.

"They really did their homework," said Joyce Haldeman, executive director of community and government relations for the district, who led the study group. "These recommendations are things the district needs to pay attention to, can do, and should do."