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Montcalm County 5-Year Common Calendar Press Release
Restaurants, stores, and bowling alleys in Montcalm County may need to start preparing for the week of April 5, 2009. All students in Montcalm County's 7 public school districts will have that week off for spring break. On Thursday, February 14, 2008, the Montcalm Area Intermediate School District Board of Education announced a common calendar that sets the first full week of April as spring break. That's a change from the current situation in which districts set have the option to set their own breaks. Public Act 101 was signed into law by Governor Granholm and took effect on October 1, 2007. The law mandates that by July 1, 2008, intermediate school districts (i.e., Montcalm Area Intermediate School District), in cooperation with their constituent districts, adopt a common school calendar with regard to winter and spring breaks. The calendar must identify these dates for the next five years. The law also encourages districts to agree on common professional development days. Under the new calendar, spring vacation will no longer be tied to Easter. Instead it will be the first full week of April. Winter break, however, will continue to be planned around Christmas. The first day of school for students will continue to be the Tuesday after Labor Day, as mandated by law. For the rest of the calendar, like the last day of school and other days off, districts will make local decisions. The move, required by a state law adopted last year, is part of the effort to have school districts share more services, said Dr. Scott Koenigsknecht, Superintendent of MAISD. “The coordination of holidays will allow the ISD to reduce transportation costs and better coordinate services to our districts”, Koenigsknecht said. The biggest advantage is that students attending countywide programs such as the Montcalm Area Career Center and the Seiter Educational Center will no longer be missing some days of the programs because of the absence of common winter and spring breaks. “Having one common calendar makes it easier for schools to share busing, technology, food services, and other resources throughout the area served by our ISD,” notes Koenigsknecht. The common calendar will also benefit school employees who have children in neighboring local and intermediate school districts. “The winter and spring break dates that were agreed upon within the MAISD coincide with the same dates in approximately eight other Mid-Michigan ISDs which represent over 50 local districts, including those within the Ionia County Intermediate School District”, said Dr. Koenigsknecht. “The common dates will aid in our attempt to work more collaboratively with our neighbors to the south, the ICISD”.
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Montcalm Area ISD
621 New Street Stanton, MI 48888
989-831-5261 contact@maisd.com
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