Aspen school board to begin calendar conversation

ASPEN – The Aspen Board of Education will review a two-year calendar that aims to provide more “continuity” than previous calendars without altering the existing school year too much.

According to Aspen Superintendent John Maloy, the recommendations are based largely on feedback the district received in “stakeholder” surveys of parents, teachers, students, businesses, religious organizations, community members and others.

“We tried to cover the gamut and get as much feedback as possible from a variety of folks. And, more than anything else, the feedback we got centered around a continuity of instruction due to the interruption of a five-day week,” Maloy said. “We have tried to address that with the proposed calendar.”

Toward that end, the proposed calendar includes no days off for parent-teacher conferences. Rather, conferences will take place after school on three consecutive Wednesdays in October and March.

Also of note, graduation for Aspen High School would be moved back one week from the traditional Memorial Day weekend. The move, according to Maloy, will alleviate stress for high school seniors who previously had finals, International Baccalaureate exams and senior week all coming together at once. The commencement ceremony still would take place at the Benedict Music Tent.

But under the proposed calendar, several things remain the same as the current school calendar, including early-release Wednesdays for all students, a full week off at Thanksgiving and a March spring break.

“Nothing is perfect when it comes to creating a school calendar, but we have attempted to meet the needs of all of the players as best we can,” Maloy said.

The calendar conversation, which has in the past been controversial, begins at today’s school board meeting and will continue through the month of March. A final two-year calendar likely will be approved in early April.

jmcgovern@aspentimes.com