Bedford Central's February Break Could Be Cut For 2012-13

If Bedford Central's school board approves the proposed 2012-13 district calendar, residents could find something quite different: No week-long February vacation.

At Wednesday's board meeting, Superintendent Jere Hochman gave an overview of the change, which would reduce the break to a long weekend including President's Day and the prior Friday.

The reasons for the change are due to what Hochman termed "an extremely quirky year."

What makes the coming school year different includes the fact that all of the holidays granted for time off fall on weekdays, rather than some being on weekends and not resulting in fewer school days. Additionally, spring break is tied to Easter, which will come in late March next year. If Bedford Central were to maintain both week-long breaks, there would only be a four-week period in between, which would be marked by reduced school time due to parent-teacher conferences. After March break, some elementary students will have to get ready for taking state tests in April.

“So kids would be out of school more than in during that window of time," Hochman said.

Hochman also stressed that taking away February break is not something that is permanent, but rather only up for consideration in the coming year.

“This is not a commitment for the future." he said.

It has taken a while for Bedford Central's proposed schedule to be produced because it took a while for the state to produce the last day of school, which districts plan around. Reducing days off in February would be comparable to what nearby districts have done for this year's schedule, Hochman explained.

During feed back, school board members asked about other schedule tweaks and about future year.

Board member Erika Long asked if spring break could be fixed to one week in April rather than following Easter. Hochman replied that it has been suggested but not approached.

“We haven’t opened that can of worms yet," he said.

Drew Patrick, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, noted that elementary state testing dates may fall between the second and fourth weeks of April - after the 2014-15 school year this may change due to a new system - which would complicate such a change.

David Firestein, a Pound Ridge resident and a father of four current and former district students, spoke against the proposal. He felt that there needs to be consistency in the schedule and did not feel that the calendar quirk justifies making the change. He added that when he brings up the change to people they are surprised to find out.

The board will vote on the calendar at its next meeting, on April 18.

A copy of the proposed calendar and a recent announcement of it by Hochman are attached as a PDF