Calendar Quirks Eliminate Yorktown Students' February Break

In a year of complex tax-cap and core-curriculum challenges, even the simple school calendar is posing problems for administrators. 

This year, the task has been complicated by an unusual calendar quirk next year – all of the holidays that can occur in the next school year fall on weekdays – and administrators have only so many days they could take off. 

For starters, the Yorktown Central School District's schedule-makers must account for those holidays in a finite stretch of calendar bounded by a Sept. 4 start and a June 21, 2013, finish.

In addition, they must fit in 182 classroom days as well 4 superintendent’s conference days and an unknown number of weather days. Then, of course, come the breaks—traditionally, in December, February and April.

"One of the things that will be a little bit different about the calendar for the next school year is there won't be a winter break," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ralph Napolitano said. 

The calendar, which the board members approved on Monday, calls for a five-day weekend in February, from Feb. 15 to Feb. 19, but not a full week-long winter break. It would incorporate the Presidents Day holiday, which is on Monday, Feb. 18. The Superintendent's Conference Day, scheduled for June 24 (when school is over) did not make much sense, Napolitano said. He asked to change it to the Friday before President's weekend (Feb. 15) essentially giving students an extra day off. 

He said he would like some "grace period" to speak to the teachers if they would be OK with the change, but he said he believed they would be supportive. 

"It makes so much more sense to me to have the Superindendents' Conference during the school year when what teachers are learning can actually be applied to the rest of the school year rather than to have it on June 24 when there is really no application," Napolitano said. 

He also recommended that there is a half day, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, instead of taking the full day off (which is what has been traditionally happening). 

Is the calendar affecting your plans next year? How would you feel about having no February week-long vacation? Tell us in the comments below!

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