Proposed 2001-2002 School Calendar
12-20-00 (12-7-00 message below)
Dear Parents,
I continue to receive letters expressing concern about the school
calendar. It is not a large number but certainly enough that I felt
the need to resubmit the information below (supplied by APS staff
in response to my concerns about the calendar) and to add the
following suggestion.
The calendar committee is tentatively scheduled to meet on
Jan. 22, 2001 from 2pm to 4pm in the Mays conference room.
This meeting will be open to interested individuals.
Besides this meeting, the Board holds monthly community meetings
throughout the year. The Jan. 2001 community meeting scheduled
for Jan. 11 at 6:00 pm in the Garnett Street facility (just off of Pryor
Street).
This community meeting would be an excellent time for individuals
with reservations or observations about the calendar to present
those to the Superintendent and the full Board. You could then
attend the calendar meeting on the 22nd. I will be at both of these
meetings and look forward to seeing you at that time.
Happy Holidays
Mike Holiman
Atlanta Board of Education, District Three
_________________________________________________________
Calendar Setting A committee composed of district, school, parent, and
employee organization representatives developed the school calendar
for the 2001-2002 school year.
More specifically, about 20 persons attended the initial meeting on
November 15, 2000; slightly fewer persons attended a follow-up
meeting on November 27, 2000.
The school calendar committee has traditionally included at a minimum
a parent representative from the Atlanta Council of PTAs. However,
neither Mrs. Thelma Malone, council president, nor her recommended
representative, Ms. Mattie Strozier, First Vice President, was able to
attend committee meetings. Nevertheless, because Ms. Malone and I
communicated by telephone, Ms. Malone is aware of calendar
committee's deliberations and the proposed district calendar. She has
verbalized her agreement with committee recommendations.
Further, Mr. Don Doran represented principals in general and Inman
Middle School stakeholders in particular. Also, other principals served
on the committee as well. Based on Mr. Doran's feedback, he made a
concerted effort to get invaluable input to share with the committee.
In carrying out its task, the calendar committee reviewed calendars
from 11 school districts. The following observations were made:
*Each district's first day of school for students ranges between the
dates of August 8, 2001, and August 13, 2001.
*First semester ends between the dates of December 14, 2001, and
December 21, 2001.
*Nine of the 11 systems will begin the second semester for students
on either January 7 or 8, 2002. Cobb, Fulton, and Marietta City are
among the school districts that will begin the second semester for
students on January 8, 2000.
In relation to the date for opening school for students and other
salient features, the APS school calendar for 2002 is synchronized
with calendars of other local area school systems - an important
feature.
The school calendar committee is planning to meet on Monday,
January 22, 2001, to begin planning the 2002-2003 School Calendar.
The meeting will be held in the Atlanta Public Schools Administration
Building, Mays Conference Room, at 210 Pryor Street, S. W., Atlanta,
Georgia, from 2:00 - 4:00 P.M.
We can expand the committee to include additional representatives
so that all interested stakeholders can participate. We will need
identifying information including name, street address, telephone
number, and email address so that we can notify potential participants
about the meeting.
School board member Mike Holiman has informed us that the school board
has proposed the following as the calendar for the 2001-2002 school year:
August 13, 2001 - school starts
Thanksgiving and Election Day same as this year.
December 21, 2001 - holiday vacation begins
Jan. 7, 2002 - holiday ends (school starts Jan. 8)
April 8, 2002 - spring break begins
May 24, 2002 - last day of school
Mr. Holiman can be contacted at
mailto:mholiman@atlanta.k12.ga.us
For more information on the Board or how to contact board members, go to:
http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/board/