What to know about Clark County’s new academic calendar

By Chris Kudialis

Sunday, June 4, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Students in the Clark County School District will come back from summer two weeks earlier this year, starting classes Aug. 14.

How will the modified calendar affect the district?

• Midterm exams and the end of first semester will happen before winter break.

Moving midterms before winter break was the primary goal of the adopted schedule change, CCSD spokeswoman Melinda Malone said, because it allows students to recharge on their winter break instead of study, and it matches the schedule of U.S. colleges and universities.

“The way it was set up, students were going on winter break and then taking finals after two weeks off school,” Malone said. “It’s beneficial to them that finals be done prior to break, so they can enjoy time with their families and relax during the holidays.”

Teachers also will have time during the break to prepare lesson plans for the new year, instead of putting together midterm reviews for students and writing their exams.

• Memorial Day Weekend will mark the end of the school year.

The annual holiday at the end of May will kick off CCSD’s summer vacation instead of creating a short last week of school. Nearly all of the country’s major universities end their academic years before Memorial Day, with some ending as early as mid-April.

• College-bound athletes, performers and scholars will have more time to spend with their new school groups.

With 14 extra days to practice or work with new school teams, labs or jobs — or even catch up on summer school classes — incoming college freshmen from Las Vegas will be better able to maximize their involvement on their new campuses, said UNLV Senior Vice Provost Carl Reiber.

“It’s always better when schedules align,” Reiber said. “It just adds time so CCSD students can engage with the university a little bit better.”

• All remaining year-round elementary schools will revert back to a regular nine-month calendar.

To handle overcrowding in the district, about two dozen elementary schools became year-round for the 2015-16 school year, and that number decreased to 15 this year. With six new elementary schools opening in conjunction with CCSD’s schedule change, all elementary schools will adhere to the standard nine-month calendar starting this upcoming school year.

• Students and teachers at those elementary schools will lose two weeks of vacation time this year.

Year-round students and teachers will continue on their current schedules through July 20, said CCSD spokesman David Roddy. They then will have less than four weeks off before returning to school Aug. 14, compared with a six-week summer during a regular year-round school year.

Twelve-month CCSD teachers working at those schools will become nine- or 10-month employees but will not have their salaries cut, as the number of school days will be the same.

• So will CCSD employees, from teachers and administrators to school police and janitorial staff.

Instead of about 75 days in a row away from class, including weekends, nine-month employees will have about 60 free days before returning, and 10-month employees will have about 30 days instead of 45.

• But teachers won’t lose classroom time.

Contractual agreements for CCSD teachers require them to spend at least the three weekdays before the school year starts working in the classroom, Malone said. Some teachers voluntarily work in their classrooms before that.

The schedule change won’t affect the mandatory three-day period. And as most CCSD teachers are nine-month employees, they’ll still have “enough” days to recharge their batteries this summer, Malone said. She emphasized that after this year’s adjustment, the lengths of winter, spring and summer breaks will be the same as always.

“Nothing changes except the timing of the school year,” Malone said. “We just have a shorter summer break (this year) and have to do everything sooner.”

• Returning teachers’ pay will be divided into the same amount of pay periods.

With the two-week change causing teacher contracts for the 2015-16 school year to overlap with the upcoming school year, returning CCSD teachers were originally thought to be paid regularly through their contracts for the ending school year, and in fewer but larger installments for the upcoming year. But instead of 22 pay periods, as originally proposed, there will still be 24, starting Sept. 10, Malone said, and teachers will still get the same salaries. Returning teachers will also have 24 pay periods for the 2018-19 school year.

• New teachers won’t be affected.

Because their contracts don’t overlap with any previous agreements with the district, new CCSD teachers will be paid in 24 periods like any other teacher during a regular school year, starting Aug. 10.

• Teachers don’t appear to have many concerns about the change.

A Facebook poll of more than 80 CCSD teachers showed the majority didn’t feel strongly about moving the school year forward two weeks. Several respondents called the calendar change a “non-issue,” citing teachers’ health care and salary as more pressing.

“We’re facing far bigger problems,” commented Jessica Maleskey, an English teacher at Liberty High School.

“The calendar change is not the biggest issue we are dealing with,” added Hilary Moskowitz, an English teacher at Valley High School.

Elementary school teacher Paula Price said the change favored high school teachers, a claim Tanaka Elementary School teacher Shana Prue echoed.

Prue said she didn’t think sending elementary school students out to recess in the early August heat was in their best interest.