School Till July 26? Sneak a Peek at Five Calendars DISD's Looking at For Next Year.

Used to be, you knew school was back in session day after Jerry Lewis was on teevee, teetering in a tux. Now, of course, kiddos report back at the end of August. But how long will that last? Not quite sure: Amongst the many, many, many items of interest on...

By Robert Wilonsky

October 31, 2011

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Used to be, you knew school was back in session day after Jerry Lewis was on teevee, teetering in a tux. Now, of course, kiddos report back at the end of August. But how long will that last? Not quite sure: Amongst the many, many, many items of interest on the Dallas Independent School District's board briefing agenda this week is "Discussion of School Calendars," which looks fairly benign till you click through to find the five options you'll also see after the jump.

Long story short: Two of the five would begin the school year after Labor Day, on September 4 -- and one of those would drag out the school year till July 26, with a whopping 203 days of instruction, as opposed to the 180 or 182 found on the other four choices.

Now, Option No. 3 does extend and add some vacations: Winter break, say, would run 11 days, not just seven, and there'd be an additional two full weeks off from May 27 to 31 and July 1 to 5. But you'll also notice: The traditional six-weeks grading period has been scraped to make way for the seven-week schedule "to allow for mastery of material." Not only that, but: "Teachers report to campus for two weeks prior to start of school for preparation and staff development purposes." President Obama proposed this a year ago, and while it may not get far, but there's an interesting discussion to be had on the subject. And it starts Thursday morning at 11:30 at 3700 Ross.

DISD Options For 2012-2013 School Year Calendar

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Dallas Observer has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.