Hit the Iowa State Fair Early Because Johnston Schools WIll Start Aug. 16

Summer ends in Johnston on Aug. 16 this year.

The Johnston school board approved the 2012-13 calendar after a public hearing Monday.

After months of discussion between staff, board members and concerned parents, Thursday, Aug. 16, was determined to be the start of the 2012-13 school year.

At a board meeting on Jan. 23, staff members were charged with creating a calendar with an Aug. 20 start date. After reviewing the number of days in each semester, staff decided to once again look at a start date of Aug. 16.

Monday's meeting surrounded a discussion of two calendars — one that started on Aug. 16 and one with Aug. 20 as the first day of class.

"There has been a question of why there are two calendars," said associate superintendent Jim Casey. "We thought we needed to bring back the Thursday start date. The reason we didn't want that before was the imbalance of semesters, we didn't think we could work things out."

When looking at the Aug. 20 calendar the semesters had a split of 92 and 88 days.

"Since there was an imbalance of days, we felt we should bring Aug. 16 back," Casey said.

The Aug. 16 start day has a semester split of 87 and 93 days, with a dismissal date of May 21.

Aim Is to Hold Finals Before Winter Break

Parents were split on the decision during Monday's public hearing, several felt semester finals could be finished before winter break even with a later start date.

Frank and Mary Boksa of Johnston asked staff members to shuffle in-service days or teacher comp days to accommodate an Aug. 20 start date.

"It seems like we're back to selecting a date because of finals," Mary Boksa said. "The data at the January board meeting didn't show that it made a difference."

Sarah Marckmann, a guidance secretary at Johnston High School, said she preferred to finish finals before break, but didn't care when classes start.

"There are three reasons, first it's a true break. This is the first time my kids didn't have to take books to grandma's house," she said. "It's a true break for staff, they didn't have to grade papers, they didn't have to prepare for finals. What a treat for them to be with their families. In my job, I'm the one responsible for transferring students in and out of our high school. … If we stretch the semester to January, that really messes things up for those families."

Marckmann also said the Thursday start date allows students to gradually work into the grind of the school year.