The District 65 administration will present a draft version of the 2019-2020 calendar at the school board meeting on Monday night that would start the school year later than the planned Evanston Township High School calendar.
The proposed school year for District 65 would start on Aug. 26, the fourth Monday of the month, and would end on June 2, with an additional five emergency days to be used if needed.
The proposed calendar follows standard district practice related to holiday observations, break lengths and professional learning opportunities for staff and generally aligns with community feedback from an online survey of District 65 stakeholders.
While the proposed 2019-2020 calendar aligns with Evanston Township High School in regards to holiday observances and winter and spring recess, District 202 leadership is proposing that students start three days earlier – on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
The administration notes that changing the D65 start date to match D202 would require bargaining with the District 65 Educators’ Council. In addition, not all District 65 buildings are air conditioned, which poses a challenge to scheduling an earlier start date in August.
The school board will review the draft calendar at its regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday at the Hill Education Center, 1500 McDaniel Ave.
The draft calendar will be brought for approval at the joint District 65/District 202 board meeting on May 21.