Families in Blaine County wishing to round out their summer with one final vacation over the popular Labor Day weekend will have an easier time this year.
The Blaine County School District board of trustees voted Wednesday to delay the start to the 2010-11 school year until Tuesday, Sept. 7, the day after Labor Day. The change applies only to the coming school year.
According to District Superintendent Lonnie Barber, the board will reconsider the changed schedule next spring before deciding whether to retain the later start during the 2011-12 school year and beyond. He said the board typically sets the school calendar for two to three years at a time.
This will be the first time in 10 years that Blaine County schools will start the week after Labor Day.
Though Barber said it hasn't been a major issue, the change is meant to prevent families who might be planning a vacation from having to keep their children home from school during the first week. He said it seems to make more sense to avoid that issue by simply starting classes a week later.
"It does seem strange to start school and then take a vacation one week later," he said. "A lot of times the kids don't show up for a week."
In any given year, about 10 to 12 students miss out on the first week of school, Barber said.
"We don't have a lot of it," he said.
The school district will consider input from families and teachers before keeping or changing the later school calendar in 2011.
"We have to make sure it fits the community's calendar," Barber said.
The change also pushes back spring break one week later during the 2010-11 school year. Next year, spring break will be during the week of March 21.
Barber said that's meant to ensure that the district matches up with the rest of the schools in its region, most of which are in the Twin Falls and Jerome area. It's a matter of coordinating after-school sports, he said.
Jason Kauffman: jkauffman@mtexpress.com
