On Nov. 6, the Sarasota County School Board proposed the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 student calendars for advertisement. During this 30 day advertisement period, the school board accepted questions, concerns and comments from those affected by this change. Once the 30 days passed, the calendar committee reviewed the new schedules once again and submitted it to the school board for final approval.
In terms of the new proposed schedules, the school year will continue to commence the Monday on the third week of August, but will now end May 29 in 2019-2020 and May 27 in 2020-2021 rather than May 24. Another important change to note is the effects on holiday breaks — Thanksgiving Break is extended to a week instead of three days, Winter Break remains the same of about two and a half weeks, and Spring Break is lengthened from from one week to a week and three days.
Most students are in favor of this calendar. “I think that this change in the school schedule for 2019 will be beneficial in the long run. Although we’re only losing one week at the end of school for summer, we gain more time throughout the year, which is when we really need it. I think that a week at Thanksgiving and a few days more in Spring Break will give students the mental and emotional break that all students deserve,” eleventh-grader Phoebe LaForge said. “It gives us time to recuperate and I think it will make us more motivated to be in school once it’s over. Especially for Pine View students, we are so busy with schoolwork and extracurricular that a break is much needed and would be greatly appreciated. Also, those extensions would give students who travel during breaks more time and flexibility with that because there wouldn’t be as strict of a timelock. Overall, I would love this change.”
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