Steamboat Pilot & Today

Hayden — The Hayden School Board on Wednesday night will consider adopting a calendar for next school year that would add 10 class days for secondary school students but keep the elementary school schedule mostly unchanged.

Superintendent Mike Luppes said the school district’s calendar committee will recommend that the School Board move away from the traditional calendar and adopt the proposal that would have Hayden’s two campuses run on different schedules.

“We were hoping to come up with one calendar that worked for everyone, but the two schools have different needs, and we weren’t able to mesh a really good calendar that met the needs of everyone,” Luppes said. “The elementary school is proposing a calendar very similar to our present one with teacher workdays on Fridays. The secondary schools want to use those days as additional class days with their students.”

To add those extra class days without extending the school year, students at the secondary school will attend class for a full day on 10 Fridays they had off in past years because of the Professional Learning Community days that were held once or twice per month. The new secondary calendar also would have classes start at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays instead of 7:50 a.m, and the schools would dismiss students about 30 minutes earlier each day.

“This calendar change is stemming from the fact that we do have some concerns we’re not doing justice to the coursework at the secondary level,” Luppes said. “By adding additional class meetings, we will better meet the needs of our students.”

Luppes acknowledged that having the two campuses run on separate calendars would present challenges. He invited parents to share their concerns about the proposal at or before Wednesday’s board meeting.

“The challenges we anticipate are for the families or teachers that have students in both schools,” he said, noting there would be about eight days in which elementary students would be in class while secondary students would not. “We’re really hoping the community is not going to feel a significant impact because of this.”

The proposed calendar still would have the school year start the day after Labor Day and end the Friday before Memorial Day.

Luppes said parents can call the district office at 970-276-3864 or stop by to talk about the proposal.

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210 or email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com