Committee’s input will guide Glendale school calendar

Most Glendale parents prefer the school year begin during the third week of August or later, according to input the school district’s calendar committee has been collecting during the past several weeks, school officials announced Tuesday.

The school district created the committee, made up of district employees, parents and students, following concerns raised by parents that the start of the current school year on Aug. 10 was too early.

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Montrose parent Sarah Rush created an online petition seeking a later start date last August, and the survey went on to collect 2,500 signatures and get the attention of Glendale Unified administrators, who also received complaints that the 2016-17 school year, set to begin on Aug. 8, was far too early.

After school officials hosted a series of community meetings and conducted an online survey to gauge input from parents, teachers, students and staff, the committee made two conclusions.

In addition to finding out that parents and other respondents would prefer the school year begin the third week of August or later, they also found out that a majority of respondents would like the end of the first semester to conclude before winter break to give students a rest from schoolwork during their time off.

Committee members, including Rush and fellow parents Carolyn Klas and Myra Goethals, met four times between late February and April 18 with students, school district employees and Glendale Unified Assistant Supt. Maria Gandera, who moderated discussions about the calendar.

“Under Dr. Gandera’s leadership, we were given a very safe and inviting forum to speak our opinions,” Goethals said. “We knew going into the room that there were several of us coming from different backgrounds and different opinions.”

The two main preferences were shared with the Glendale school board Tuesday night and will guide school officials’ next steps in drafting the 2017-18 calendar.

It still remains uncertain which days off school officials will consider, including whether or not the district will continue to take off a full week at Thanksgiving, although the committee found that a shorter Thanksgiving break was preferred among locals who offered input during community meetings.

An online survey that 1,241 people completed also showed that most respondents preferred teachers participate in professional training days outside of the school year.

The school board will weigh the findings before district administrators negotiate a calendar for 2017-18 with the Glendale Teachers Assn. later this school year.

“To achieve what we want to achieve, we have to make some compromise,” said Armina Gharpetian, school board president. “At the end of the day … this is all about the kids and what’s best for them.”

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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan