BUENA PARK : School Considering Year-Round Schedule

James A. Whitaker Elementary School may be joining the growing trend of year-round schools.

“It’s a move away from the old September-to-June calendar established when we were a farming society when kids needed to be home in the summer to harvest the crops,” said Buena Park School District Supt. Jack Townsend. “That’s not the case anymore, of course, but this is a way to break the paradigm to try something different and innovative.”

Whitaker Elementary would be the first school in the 100-year-old district’s history to switch from a traditional calendar school year, Townsend said.

No formal action by the Board of Trustees is expected until March. Trustees, however, this week approved notifying the public that the district is considering a year-round schedule to begin August, 1994. Public hearings will be held in January and February, and the school plans to hold parent forums.

“We want to make sure the parents, the community and everyone is comfortable with what we’re doing,” Townsend said. “We hope that we will have strong support for it.”

Principal Dick Martin said the trend for year-round programs in Orange County schools requires children to attend school for 60 school days, or 12 weeks, then they are off for four weeks.

Martin said a 45-day-on, 15-day-break schedule will also be considered.

The main benefit of the year-round school year is ending the three-month summer break, Martin said. The summer break results in children not retaining what they learned, and time must be spent reviewing material at the start of each new school year, he said.

Martin said remedial and other programs would be offered to enhance learning during the 20- or 15-day period off. Other benefits of going year-round is that absenteeism, suspensions and vandalism decrease, he said studies show.

Aurora Allen, who has two children at Whitaker, said she favors the idea.

“The kids don’t lose so much information with a shorter break,” Allen agreed. “The studies I read, test scores are also much higher for children who attend school year-round.”

Teachers are also supportive of making the change. “All of the children can profit from coming to school all year round,” said kindergarten teacher Christie Baird.