Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District trustees are expected to make a decision by late Spring on moving the starting date of the school year up one or two weeks, which would make the first semester end before the two-week Winter recess, among other benefits.
Discussion of a possible change came at a recent trustee meeting, with remarks from interim Superintendent Michael Matthews, who said moving to an earlier start would be “challenging” but “positive,” based on his past experiences in two districts he has served.
The earliest the starting date could change would be for the 2024-25 school year, since instructional dates for the next school year already are finalized, Matthews told trustees.
Trustees seemed amenable to an earlier start date, with some suggesting a change could be implemented in steps, starting with one week earlier for the 2024-25 school year and another week earlier for a later school year.
This year, the district had the latest start date of the county's 12 unified school districts, beginning the week of Aug. 29. Nine districts, including Brea-Olinda Unified, started the week of Aug. 15 and two started the week of Aug. 22.
A change could give high school students a “true Winter break,” Matthews said, since the second semester would start after the two-week vacation. He said the first semester doesn't have to be the same length as the second semster, since the latter involves testing.
Another benefit from a change would be that Fall sports would start closer to the opening day of school. This year, high schools played in two football games before school started Aug. 30.
Also, students would be better able to enroll in summer community college classes, since now those classes begin before the district's school year ends, and the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate students would have more classroom time before early May tests.
A one- or two-week earlier start would mean a shorter summer vacation during the transition years, but that could be overcome by a three-week Winter break, several trustees suggested.
An earlier start, if implemented, would affect a projected enrollment of 22,226 students on the district's 34 campuses in the 2024-25 school year, down from this year's 22,986 count.
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A couple noteworthy 3-2 trustee votes pitted Leandra Blades, Todd Frazier and Shawn Youngblood against Marilyn Anderson and Carrie Buck at the board's Jan. 17 meeting.
The majority voted to approve a contract with a superintendent search firm to find candidates to replace Matthews when his one-year interim contract expires June 30 and hired a new firm to handle the board's legal matters.
The “yes” trustees wanted to move ahead with the search and were unhappy with some of the current law firm's recent actions. The “no” trustees expressed concerns about the search firm's $50,000 cost and wanted more “due diligence” on the law firm.