Guest column: Remember to vote on school calendar Monday evening

By Donato “Dan” DiGregorio

To staff of the Oak Ridge Schools and parents of students:

The thoughts and views expressed below are mine and may or may not reflect the thoughts and views of the other Board of Education members.

Currently, our Oak Ridge School system operates on two different calendars, the “Willow Brook (WB)” calendar and the “traditional” calendar. Consideration is being given to unifying the school calendar. Two proposed calendars, “the traditional” calendar and “balanced” calendar, are the options. The decision will be left to the Board of Education after much input. Included in this input are staff and parent preferences.

The main question that I hope folks ask themselves is: Of these two calendars, which will be the most helpful to promote student learning?

This coming Monday (Feb. 10) evening at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, Oak Ridge Schools parents and staff will have the opportunity to express their preferences for a possible new school calendar from the two proposed calendars. See this story for Dr. Chris Marczak’s brief description of each and how the telephone “vote” will occur. You may also view these calendars in more detail and how the telephone “vote” will take place by visiting the Oak Ridge Schools website.

Depending on how you view things, each of these proposed calendars in some way can be a win/win, win/lose, lose/lose, or win-lose/win-lose. Voters must figure that out for themselves. I hope none of us is trying to “win” or see to it that someone “loses.” There are many people affected by a school calendar, but our students are the ones most affected, at least in my opinion.

The Oak Ridge Schools calendar is a big deal. It affects the entire community in one way or other. Please participate in the telephone “vote.” Monday, Feb. 10: parents at 6 p.m. and staff at 7 p.m.

And, to be very clear, I have no preference for either of these two calendars. Neither affects me personally. I just want to help make the best decision for our current students and those in the foreseeable future.

For additional reference, you might want to view the calendars of the Maryville City Schools and the Alcoa City Schools. You can find these calendars on their respective websites.

Please participate in the telephone “vote” on Monday, Feb. 10: parents at 6 p.m. and staff at 7 p.m. Keep in mind that the focus of any school calendar is or should be about student learning—at least in my opinion.

Donato “Dan” DiGregorio is a member of the Oak Ridge Board of Education.