Parents of children in Santa Fe Public Schools may want to hold off on finalizing August vacation plans: Classes will start one or two weeks earlier.

SFPS announced the proposed changes on its Web site last week. The district is encouraging parents to voice their opinions and choose an option online at sfps.info. The deadline for responses is March 31.

This year, school started Aug. 26 and will end June 3. But under SFPS' Calendar Option 1, school would begin two weeks earlier on Aug. 16 and end on May 20 next year. Under Calendar Option 2, it would begin one week early on Aug. 23 and end May 27.

The first option would ensure that the second quarter ends before the winter break, freeing students from homework and preparing for exams during the holiday season. The second choice would end the second quarter on Jan. 12, about 10 days after the end of winter break.

Superintendent Bobbie J. Gutierrez notes that the current calendar has been in place for four years and has resulted in "many issues for our district that we did not anticipate when we originally moved to a later start date."

Among those issues: the impact on student achievement; balancing out school semesters so that winter break can really equate to a winter break for students; and gathering more timely student attendance data for funding requirements.

"Santa Fe starts about two weeks later than districts in the rest of the state. And in tight financial times like these, we are trying to do more partnering with other districts for professional development, so it's even more important that we have a similar calendar to surrounding districts," Gutierrez said.

Last autumn, Gutierrez asked Denise Johnston, associate superintendent, to head up a calendar committee made up of teachers, administrators and parents.

Once the district finishes collecting parental and staff feedback on its Web site, it plans to present its recommendations for one of the two options to the Board of Education at the April 6 board meeting, Johnston said.

Feedback so far has been "about 50/50" for the two options, Gutierrez said. But, she stressed that if Option 2 is approved by the board for the 2010-2011 school year, Option 1 will still be recommended for the 2011-12 school year.

Marcelle Grant, co-president of Santa Fe High's Parent Teacher Coalition, said it makes sense to change the schedule so students can take mid-term exams before the winter break.

But, she said, the district has been inconsistent in its message regarding potential calendar changes.

"Every year there seems to be a new plan," she said. "There was talk of moving the start to Labor Day weekend, and now it's back to starting earlier. I'm sure that for some people who have vacation plans this summer, moving the schedule ahead two weeks could be a problem."

Kathy Ritschel, president of the Parent-Teacher Association at Eldorado Community School, said most of the parents she's spoken with are in favor of Option 2 because of ongoing construction at the school.

"The other concern raised by several parents was the heat — it's too hot to go back to school earlier in August," she said.

Either option would also increase the number of instructional school days from 173 to 176, Gutierrez said. Though Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation requiring 180 instructional days last year, the Legislature delayed the implementation of that law until 2011/2012.

According to the state's Public Education Department, the vast majority of the state's 89 school districts have somewhere between 170 and 180 instructional days.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.