Lakeside stays with traditional school calendar

The Lakeside School Board approved a traditional schedule Thursday for the 2017-18 school year despite rumors the district would switch to an extended year option.

A Facebook post Wednesday night alleged the board would vote on the extended option during Thursday’s regular meeting in the Lakeside High School Technology Center. The extended option proposed a first day of school on Aug. 14 and the final day on June 22.

“That was just to ask our teachers to give us their opinions, if we considered that at some point, to see how they would feel about it,” said Lakeside Superintendent Shawn Cook.

The approved 2017-18 calendar brings students back to

school on Aug. 14 with teachers starting a week prior on Aug. 7. The school will break for three days during the week of Thanksgiving and end the school year on May 24.

The extended year option included a full week off for students in every month of the school year after August and before June.

“It is not something the administration is pushing,” Cook said. “We are just getting information for a request that was made at one point.”

“There’s a whole lot of discussion and a whole lot of groups we would have before we even moved an inch forward,” Cook added. “That’s a big deal. You don’t just jump out there and do something without visiting with a lot of groups.”

Lakeside High School teacher Blake Campbell and Assistant Superintendent Bruce Orr detailed the process in which the calendar committee on the personnel policy committee selected a calendar to present to the board. Campbell represented certified faculty members and Orr represented the administration.

Campbell said the committee surveyed faculty and staff throughout the district. Orr met with the parent teacher organizations from each school and a group of administrators from throughout the county to understand goals for countywide professional development.

Lakeside’s employees voted between two options, the second of which included a full week off for Thanksgiving with the last day of school on May 29. A total of 144 employees, 58.5 percent of the 246 responses, voted for the approved calendar.

Board member Tylar Tapp said he wanted the district to explore an extended option a year ago. He worked with school staff to develop a third option to present to teachers this week.

Tapp contended the approved break was the longest in his time at Lakeside. The approved calendar includes a summer break of 12 weeks and four days.

“That is a long time to go in between education,” Tapp said.

A majority of employees who responded to the third option said they were open to exploring it as an option. Tapp followed recommendations from academic coaches to develop a shorter version of the extended option to end school on June 8 instead of June 22 or May 24.

“It gives teachers and students breaks throughout the year,” Tapp said. “I think it can combat the grind teachers face. I have yet to find a great teacher that wasn’t exhausted in May and I think that is because they have to work so many days every month without these breaks. Luckily, it’s not just me thinking it. I think the statistics show that.”

Tapp made a motion to table the item for a month and present the third option to faculty and staff to consider. The motion was not seconded.

Will Maffit, board vice president, and fellow board members John Pennington and Berry Bishop shared their concerns about Tapp’s proposed changes.

“Logistically, if Lakeside is on an island with a schedule like this, I think it could lead to many other issues that we don’t even know about yet,” Maffit said.

“I’m not sure we can handle that with our economy and the way things are set up,” Pennington said.

They said the district would have to consider many factors such as the economy, day care, geography, sports and summer camps.

“I would certainly hope our patrons don’t think we would make a decision like that without thinking this out very carefully and getting their input,” Bishop said.

“I want everybody in this community to interest that we would never, as a board, take such a drastic step without having extensive community involvement,” said Carla Mouton, president of the board. “There are too many stakeholders here. It is not just the teachers. It is not even just the parents. We have a huge community, a supportive community, not only within Lakeside, but within Garland County.”

Cook recommended the board approve the calendar selected by employees and plan a workshop to further discuss an extended option. The board approved the recommendation by a 4-1 vote with Tapp dissenting.

House Bill 1937 filed in the current session of the Arkansas General Assembly proposed for all public elementary and secondary schools to begin the school year no sooner than the Tuesday of the week in which Labor Day is observed and to end the school year no later than the Friday before the date observed as Memorial Day. The bill failed on the House floor.