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School Calendar Poll Results Are Withheld Vote Tallies Will Be Released March 14

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 03:03 CST

By Donnie Fetter< Columbia County Bureau

The survey is over, but the results of community votes for one of three new school calendars for the Columbia County School System won't be released until March 14, school officials say.

Sunday was the deadline for Columbia County residents to choose one of three calendars with different school start dates - Aug. 23, Aug. 15 or Aug. 6 - in an online or paper survey.

Columbia County School Superintendent Tommy Price is withholding any information gleaned from the survey until he can share it with the school board at a March 14 meeting, said Karen Ribble, the school system's special events coordinator.

The school board is expected to choose a new calendar for the 2007-08 school year at their subsequent meeting March 28.

Although not bound by the results of the survey, school board Vice Chairwoman Roxanne Whitaker said the board will likely approve the most popular calendar.

"If we don't do that, what good was it to do the survey?" Mrs. Whitaker asked.

From conversations she has had with parents and students, Mrs. Whitaker says she believes the public is leaning toward Calendar B, which has an Aug. 15 start date, or Calendar C, which has an Aug. 6 start date.

"Most of them are concerned about the exams," Mrs. Whitaker said. "Maybe not necessarily the school exams, but the End of Course Tests. They want to get in all the classroom time they possibly can for their kids."

End of Course Tests are required for algebra I, geometry, U.S. history, economics, biology, physical science, ninth-grade language arts and American literature. The tests account for 15 percent of a student's overall grade.

The state Board of Education sets the testing window for the exams each year, which usually fall in April for the spring semester.

"Calendar A leaves you six weeks short on class time before the End of Course Tests," Mrs. Whitaker said.

Also, she said most students she spoke with preferred finishing the first semester of school before a winter break, which is not an option on Calendar A.

Regardless of the survey's outcome, Mrs. Whitaker said she is ready to move on to more pressing school issues.

"We have spent more time on the calendar than we have any other project in our schools," she said. "I wish the parents were that involved in other issues."

WHAT'S NEXT The Columbia County School Board will meet at 6 p.m. March 14 at the Evans Government Complex and will discuss the results of a survey on the school calendar. A final vote on a new calendar for the 2007-08 school year will likely be made by the board at a March 28 meeting at the Board of Education office in Appling.

Source: Augusta Chronicle, The

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