The Hicksville Board of Education approved the 2015-’16 school calendar draft at their recent meeting; a draft which includes starting school before Labor Day.
Typically, schools start after Labor Day but with the holiday falling later this year, on Sept. 7, the district is proposing starting on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The first staff development day is planned for Aug. 31.
“The reason that we are bringing this up in a January meeting is because even now families are planning what their next year will be like,” said Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carl Bonuso.
Bonuso said that this year’s school calendar has 180 instructional days, three staff development days and April 10 as a snow make-up contingency day.
Next year’s proposed calendar has 182 instructional days, two staff development days and a few days, including March 28 and May 27 as possible snow contingency days.
“We have a couple of days to play with next year and still will have the minimum 180 instructional days that are required by the state,” said Dr. Bonuso.
Next year’s calendar includes a full week in February and a full week in April for student and staff vacations and an Election Day which will only require staff members to come in.
The board approved the 2015-’16 school calendar draft 7-1. Board Vice President Kevin Carroll was the only one opposed to drafting the calendar, saying that he was not prepared to vote on it.
“I haven’t completely looked at the calendar and I’m not comfortable voting on [starting] before Labor Day,” said Carroll. “I also think some of the proposed calendar dates might pose an issue for some parents who are planning on going away.”
At the Jan. 28 meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Business Marcy Tannenbaum also gave an overview of the district’s five year plan. Tannenbaum said that each year the board does a facilities tour of every school building in the district. They do a visual inspection of each building and speak to each building’s principal and put together a building condition survey in order to make sure the buildings meet health and safety standards for incoming students. They make sure that the buildings are structurally sound.
Director of Facilities and Operations, David Bell takes part in the tours, as do the heads of custodial staff in each of the school buildings and members of the PTA (Parents Teacher Association.) The information gleaned from the facilities tours is added into the annual budget as part of the district projects.
“We want to ensure that we keep the buildings and our facilities in the best possible shape,” said Tannenbaum.
There will be a closer look at the district’s five year plan at the board of education committee meeting which will be held Wednesday, Feb. 4 in the administration building at 7 p.m. The next regular board of education meeting will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 8:30 p.m. in the administration building.
