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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Board of Education voted Tuesday to table a decision on whether the district will move its six year-round elementary schools to a traditional schedule.
The board discussed the issue at its December board meeting, and again Tuesday, before ultimately deciding to seek more input from teachers who will be effected by the proposed change. The district estimates the switch could save the district about $130,000. The board plans to vote on the matter at its Feb. 1, meeting.
Board member Douglas Nelson said teachers at a few of the potentially-effected schools have contacted him about the matter, and he would like to talk with them more about the issue than the board already has.
"I would welcome the chance to do so if we didn't vote on this tonight," Nelson said. "I obviously think it's good if we go to a common calendar. I think no one's showed me why it's worth $130,000 a year to have different calendars among elementary schools."
Unlike other districts that adopt year-round schedules to avoid the cost of building new schools to accommodate growth, Salt Lake adopted the schedules when research indicated it would improve academic achievement, said spokesman Jason Olsen. The district received a grant several years ago to try the option in six of its Title 1 schools, but a recent report put out by the districts shows year-round students do not out-perform their counterparts on a traditional schedule.
Year-round students do not go to school more days than those on a traditional schedule, but have shorter breaks throughout the year rather than a long summer vacation.
E-mail: mfarmer@desnews.com
