FEEDBACK

My children go to Adams School in Costa Mesa, and I am the PTA President

at Adams. You have asked for comment to this new calendar being proposed,

and the operative word is “proposed.”

In your article (“District plans to change area’s school calendar,” Feb.

19) you made it sound as though it was going to happen. This needs to go

through a lot of negotiations with a lot of people.

As to the information we PTA presidents received, it was stamped 14 times

with the word “draft.” I’m hoping the district can come up with a

compromise.

Here are some concerns I have with some parts of the proposed calendar.

Starting school in the middle of August seems a little much. If you can

recall, most of our schools do not have air conditioning and sometimes

even starting school in the second week of September can be really

grueling for all involved -- staff, teachers and

students.Secondly, three weeks off for winter break seems a little too

long. According to the alternative calendar, summer break would be six

and a half weeks long and winter break is three weeks long. What happens

to the students learning the English language then? If they are so

concerned about this, they need to look at this part again.

Thirdly is the two weeks off at spring break. If you recall again, our

testing (SAT9) is done around this time of the year in elementary schools

and to give two weeks off before a major test is probably not in the best

interests of the students or the teachers.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak out on this issue. Just

remember that this is in the draft stage and a lot has to be done.

MICHELE GRAHAM

Costa Mesa