Staff Editorial
In the tentative agreement between the Manhattan Beach Unified School District and the Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers’ Association that was reached on April 26, both parties made beneficial revisions to the 2016-17 calendar that properly limit the number of student absences; however, the schedule still must be improved in the future to include an earlier summer start date, as previously approved.
In the original 2016-17 calendar, MBUTA and MBUSD changed Thanksgiving break into a four-day weekend and Ski Week, the week-long break after Presidents’ Day, into two three-day weekends and made school end for students on June 8. MBUTA and MBUSD then revised the 2016-17 calendar in the recent tentative agreement so that it now includes five-day weekends in place of this year’s week-long breaks for both Thanksgiving break and Ski Week, and school ends for students on June 15, Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said.
When MBUTA and MBUSD released the original 2016-17 calendar, both parties heard from teachers and parents that students would likely miss school on days that had not been outlined to be recess days in the original calendar, including days during the week of Thanksgiving and Presidents’ Day, Matthews said.
When students miss school, students miss instructional time and, when a certain number of students is absent, the district can lose hundreds to millions of dollars from state funding, Matthews said. By adding extra “non-student and non-teacher” days to the calendar during times that students are likely to be absent, MBUSD and MBUTA have taken proper steps to benefit the district’s budget.
When MBUTA and MBUSD released the original 2016-17 calendar, Matthews said that the earlier summer release date would allow students to take advantage of opportunities beginning in June, such as summer camps and internships. This is a vital goal that the board should continue to promote.
While the revised school end date for the 2016-17 calendar is still a week earlier than former calendars, according to the 2013-14 and 2014-15 calendars, it remains the same as the end date this year, according to the 2015-16 calendar. Matthews believes that the current end date has fewer conflicts than calendars of previous years, which ended school on the third week of June, he said.
Though the current calendar and the 2016-17 calendar move toward having an earlier summer, MBUTA and MBUSD should continue to work toward ending school the first week of June in order to ensure the least amount of conflicts for students, so they have ample opportunity to participate in activities during the summer.
MBUTA and MBUSD took the necessary steps in revising the 2016-17 calendar to ensure that it limits the amount of days that students will be absent; however, future calendars need to include an earlier summer start date to fit students’ summer needs.
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