In about two weeks, the Jacksonville City Board of Education will look over and vote on a calendar recommendation for the 2009-2010 school year. Earlier this year, State Superintendent Dr. Joseph Morton asked the schools to hold off their start date until Aug. 10 or later, to allow parents to shop for school supplies during the tax-free weekend. The request threw the start of school back about a week and the school board formed a committee to determine the best plan for the calendar.
“Right now we have a full week of fall break in there because that seems to be what a majority of parents want,” said Dr. Mackey, superintendent of the Jacksonville City School System.
In the current plan, which has not been finalized by the committee, school will begin on August 10, a Monday; fall break will be held from Oct. 12 through 16 and students will get out of school for the winter break on Dec. 18.
Spring break will once again coincide with Jacksonville State University’s break in March – the 15th through the 19th – and, when students return from the break, they will have a week of instruction before yearly exams, such as the SAT-10, begin.
The committee has yet to decide on a date for graduation, though they know it will be held before Memorial Day.
“Now the issue that we’re talking about is whether graduation will be on a Thursday night or a Friday night. Currently we’re looking at moving graduation to a Friday night because that will give us one more day to work with,” said Mackey.
