Students will say summer break is too short!
Homewood-Flossmoor High School’s board approved the calendar for the 2015-2016 academic year. Students will begin the new school year on Aug. 12, 2015, with graduation set for May 29, 2016.
The Illinois State Board of Education requires school calendars to have 185 days of class instruction and teacher institute days. Superintendent Von Mansfield said it does seem that school is starting “a tad early,” but the district administration worked around the calendar to calculate when the winter recess would begin. From that, the district worked backward to get to the start date.
“It just all depends on how the (holidays) calendar falls,” he told the board. The school calendar is divided into four quarters — each approximately 45 days.
Winter recess will be Dec. 21, 2015, through Jan. 4, 2016. Spring recess will be the week of March 28, 2016. The last day of class will be May 19, followed by three days of final exams May 24, 25 and 26.
Should H-F be closed for emergencies, the district has planned for four additional days tacked on to the end of the calendar year.
Mansfield said H-F did meet with Homewood District 153 and Flossmoor District 161 schools to try and coordinate calendars.
In other business, the board approved spending $112,977 for new textbooks. The state no longer reimburses districts for textbook purchases.
H-F is on a five-year cycle for book replacement. This year it is purchasing four items for English Literature, two for Applied Academics, two math textbooks, two special education books and a World Language book. Nancy Spaniak, director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development, said teachers were “very judicious” in placing their orders, which held costs down by more than $25,000 compared to the previous year’s order.
The board approved hiring Ryan Gerenstein through May to teach computers and business courses in the Applied Academics area. He replaced teacher Mike Patterson who resigned Jan. 2 to take a position in the business world.
Contact Marilyn Thomas at [email protected]