Calendar process could have been 'a shining example' for the county

Editor:

I was pleased to learn that the Columbia County school board had finally taken the calendar issue to the community and I was willing to accept the decision of the majority vote.

My satisfaction, however, was short-lived. The calendar was not made available to every family in the voting area. It was available only to those families with computer access; a paper calendar should have been distributed to each student and printed in the newspaper in addition to being available online.

The "happy medium" choice was selected with a later start date than currently exists, but not so late into August that would throw the school ending off too late. However, apparently the school board ignored the decision of the people and pushed the start date back two days to allow for the fall break that was not chosen to be included.

What was the point of having a vote at all? To humor the county voters? There are some parents, such as a recent letter-writer, who feel that the children need a break in the school year yet are so bored in the summer that they want to go back to school. This makes no sense.

While we are no longer living in the days of "working on the farms," many more parents are "working in the community" and cannot afford to take off time or pay extra day-care because of these unnecessary breaks.

When we were in school, how did we manage to start at the end of August, have only winter and spring breaks, few teacher workdays, and get out in early June, all while learning the material necessary, which the teachers managed to complete in the time allotted during the school day or on their own afterwards?

This entire calendar process could have been a shining example of the Columbia County School Board working together with the families it serves. Instead, this turned out to be just like the Richmond County commission meetings that have brought jeers from this area. This is no laughing matter.

E. G. Yrizarry, Grovetown