On Feb. 18, Jim Copeland, Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD#2) Superintendent of Schools, will be presenting the Common District Calendar that has been recommended by the District Accountability Committee (DAC) to the CCSD#2 Board of Trustees for approval.
Copeland said the option that was chosen by the DAC was basically in the middle of the two alternative calendars used in the school district.
Copeland was asked by the board of trustees when he was hired to come up with a common calendar for the three different schools in the district.
CCSD#2 consists of three different areas that have had three different calendars in the past, none of which have been the state recommended calendar. None of the schools are a true four-day week or five-day week, Copeland said. He has worked in school districts that have had both four-day weeks and five-day weeks, that have been successful for the students.
CCSD#2 faces unique challenges as teachers in one school are teaching classes in another school in the district, which encompasses the eastern half and six communities of Carbon County. The county is 7,694 square miles.
Copeland said the common calendar has 159 student contact days and includes six less days for Encampment and five days more contact days for Saratoga and Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow (HEM).
The calendar also increases the school day for Encampment and shortens it for Saratoga and HEM, Copeland said. Once the contact days are calculated by hours, the increase is two-and-one-half days for Saratoga and HEM and a decrease of two-and-one-half days decrease for Encampment.
Producing a common calendar for all schools in the district will allow more options for students who need an expert in a subject to share among the schools.
Before, with Encampment having school on Fridays and HEM and Saratoga not having school on Fridays, it was difficult to plan for a math teacher at HEM to broadcast a class to Encampment.
The calendar includes a “floating” day, which is Oct. 23 on the calendar for the schools homecoming schedule.
Last week, Copeland said he introduced the chosen calendar to the schools. He said he recognizes that this calendar will not make everyone happy, but it was the best compromise the DAC found. The DAC is comprised of a staff member and a parent from all seven communities and schools, the principals of each school, the Special Education Director, the Business Manager, the Technology Director, the Instructional Facilitators and Copeland.
The calendar will be put into place for two years if approved by the board of trustees to allow sponsors of extracurricular activities to schedule home games appropriately.
The school board will meet at 4 p.m. at the Saratoga Middle High School Library, Feb. 18.
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