North Hill School District officials thought shifting the school calendar by one week would be innocuous.
But changing anything about the school year, it turned out, proved more complicated than anyone had imagined.
"People plan vacations, and we do not want students, even if there are not that many of them, to miss the first week of school," said Arlene Bender, a school board member.
The district planned to start next school year Aug. 24, two weeks before Labor Day and about a week earlier than normal, thereby allowing more time the following summer for a $24 million remodeling-and-repair project at the high school.
This week, the district's superintendent instead recommended a student start date of Aug. 30, one week before Labor Day. Instead of ending on June 3, the school year would end on June 10.
That's good news to parents and school board members upset by the earlier proposal.
"I think this date is probably better because it is more in sync with other districts in the area," said Beth Olender, the president of the PTA at Northway Elementary School.
Also, some board members expressed concerns about the heat in late August.
"I think it would be difficult on students and teachers," said Carol Grom, a school board member. "None of our nine school buildings are air-conditioned."
Highs in the last week of August average about 80, but temperatures were well above 80 on three days during that week last year, according to AccuWeather.
Work on repairing and remodeling the high school is expected to start this summer and finish in 2006. It will be the first major overhaul of the high school in more than three decades.
