YORKTOWN — The unique placement of September holidays and the consolidation and renovations of elementary schools forced the Board of Education to make some changes to the 2010-11 school calendar before its adoption it Feb. 22.

The first day of school for students next year will be Monday, Sept. 13, but staff will report for Superintendent Conference Days beginning Sept. 1, Board of Education President Jackie Carbone said.

Because Labor Day falls on Sept. 6, 2010 and Rosh Hashana is observed at the end of that week, it did not make sense for the students to begin school on such a shortened work week, Carbone said.

Brookside Elementary School is due for construction through bond projects, and French Hill Elementary School will be idled for budgetary purposes next year, so the additional time will allow for teachers to become more acclimated to their new classrooms as well as allowing enough time to complete construction.

“With the consolidation of French Hill and the construction at Brookside, it may be difficult for teachers to get into rooms and classes they’ve never been in before and get set up for students,” Carbone said. “This enables us to give the staff more breathing room.”
High school freshmen sometimes begin the school earlier than other students with an orientation day. It is a decision that is left up to the school, and if the high school staff chooses to do so, the freshman orientation day will be held on Sept. 13.

The 2010-11 school calendar does not include the necessary 181 student days, and in order to accomplish that, the board switched two full days off before the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks to half days for students.

Those days include the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday and Dec. 23, the day before students are released for Christmas break, Carbone said.
At a previous meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ralph Napolitano proposed a number of options, including having the students start before Labor Day or again, asking them to come back the day after, on Sept. 7.

In either scenario, the calendar remains closely aligned to the BOCES calendar, Napolitano said, and on Feb. 22, he suggested delaying the schools’ opening to ensure everything is finished in the buildings.

Board trustee J. Mark Drexel said it is important the work will not interfere with the learning environment.

“We’re looking at next year in terms of how the schedule of capital work is proceeding and we want to make sure there is no work that will infringe on the students’ learning,” Drexel said. “We’re pretty much in line with the BOCES calendar, which most districts do follow, and the holidays are right up front this year, so it’s kind of unique.”

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