May 22, 2008
| Contact: |
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Kathryn Reith, Director of Communications |
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(425) 702-3342 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Redmond, Wash. – The Lake Washington School District will see minimal changes to the school year calendar, as negotiated with the Lake Washington Education Association (LWEA) as part of an agreement on contract negotiations for the Lake Washington School District/LWEA collective bargaining agreement for 2008-09 through 2010-11. A tentative calendar for 2011-2012 was also developed, subject to change during the next negotiations.
LWEA teachers voted 89 percent in favor of the agreement, ratifying the new contract. The District’s Board of Directors will take action on the contract settlement at their June 2 meeting.
If approved by the Board, the 2008-09 calendar will remain unchanged from the tentative calendar developed three years ago, with the exception of moving the spring break week from April 6-10 to March 30 through April 3. The spring break change was triggered when the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) changed the dates for administering the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).
School will begin in September for each of the four years for which calendars have been developed. In two of those years, 2009-10 and 2010-11, school begins before Labor Day since that holiday falls on the seventh and sixth, respectively. School will start on the first of September for both of those years. For 2008-09, school begins on September 2, the day after Labor Day. For 2011-2012, it is tentatively scheduled to begin on September 6.
“We know parents are reluctant to have school start before Labor Day,” noted Superintendent Chip Kimball. “However, the later the start, the later school goes into June, which has its own set of problems. I think we’ve found a good balance.”
School ends on June 16 for all three years of this contract and ends on June 20 for the 2011-2012 school year, which starts on September 6.
For the 2009-10 through 2011-12 school years, the mid-winter break will change from a Monday through Wednesday to a Thursday and Friday plus the Monday Presidents Day holiday. “We had to shorten mid-winter break three years ago to return to a full two weeks for the winter holiday break, keep the first day of school in September, and still have school get out in mid-June,” noted Kimball. “The Thursday through Monday timing reinforces that mid-winter break is really an extended long weekend, not the traditional one-week holiday it used to be.”
School calendars will be posted on the District Calendar page of this Web site after board approval of the LWEA contract on June 2nd.
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About Lake Washington School District
The Lake Washington School District is the sixth largest district in the state of Washington. It has more than 23,000 students in 49 schools located in Kirkland, Redmond, and Sammamish, Washington.