Wauwatosa School Board approves a modified calendar with earlier summer break

Parent concern has motivated the Wauwatosa School District to modify its 2013-2014 calendar, shortening it by two school days.

At a Jan. 14 meeting, the School Board approved a calendar that had the last day of class for students on Tuesday, June 17, 2014. Director of Human Resources Dan Chanen said that by eliminating two days originally scheduled as days off - Friday, Oct. 26, and Monday, March 17, 2014 - the district was able to cut two days off the end.

The two-day shift actually results in school ending four days earlier - on Friday, June 13 - when the weekend is taken into account.

A parent at the Jan. 14 meeting said that for families with students who go to summer school and are involved in fall sports, there is little time for family vacations of even a week.

The original calendar's days off were scheduled around weekends, and in conjunction with teacher in-service days, so that for the students, there would be four days off in a row, and for the teachers, three. Chanen characterized the four-day breaks as "nice, but not necessary," and the board approved the shortened year.