Rockdale Citizen

CONYERS — The Rockdale County Board of Education has approved a calendar for next school year that is similar to this year's calendar.

During its monthly meeting on Thursday, the school board unanimously approved a recommendation from Superintendent Samuel King for the calendar for the 2012-13 school year that was presented last month.

For several weeks, the school system sought input from parents, students and employees about the calendar through a form on its website.

Rich Autry, chief academic officer in the Office of Teaching & Learning, said the system received 216 responses, including 98 from parents, three from students, 75 from teachers and 40 from other system employees. Of those, 93 were in favor of the presented calendar.

Autry said the response could have been tens of thousands, but he tried to take those who provided input as seriously as possible.

He said some comments asked that the October break to be scheduled for the first week of the month instead of the second week, but it must be scheduled the second week because of a Georgia High School Graduation Tests testing window the first week.

Others also commented on how early the school year started or how late it ended, but he said the calendar is more balanced this way.

The school year is expected to begin for students on Monday, July 30, and end on Friday, May 24. It is a normal full school year with 180 student days and 190 teacher days.

A calendar committee, which met twice and will meet one more, decided that was the best option, according to Autry. The committee was comprised of parents, administrators and district and school personnel.

New teacher orientation is scheduled for July 19 and 20, and preplanning for teachers is from July 23 through 27.

Students would get a fall break from Oct. 8 through 12, a full-week Thanksgiving break from Nov. 19-23, a semester break from Dec. 19 through Jan. 2, a winter intercession from Feb. 18 through 22 and a spring break from April 1 through 5.

Instead of early release days, conference weeks are scheduled for Sept. 10 through 14 and Feb. 4 through 8 with no breaks for students.

Autry said the weeks would allow for more after-school parent-teacher conferences while increasing the student days.

"It gives a deeper quality of instruction," he said.

The calendar also includes 10 teacher planning days spread throughout the year.