Schools Should Not Have Balanced Calendars

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Schools Should Not Have Balanced Calendars

Throughout the United States of America (USA), school structures are established to have a balanced calendar. The primary purpose of the balanced calendars in schools is the reduction of typical summer vacation into eight months or even less. However, it is a contentious matter in the United States. Several schools of thoughts present contrasting views on the potential of the balanced calendars in schools. Irrefutably, several cons are associated with the existence of balanced calendars in schools. Parents are often skeptic to decide whether or not it is a rational practice for their children. The schedules make it very challenging for the parents to plan childcare or family vacations, schools to manage operations and thus schools must not have a balanced calendar.

To begin, the schedule of a balanced school cuts the summer breaks from twelve weeks to eight weeks. Instead, teachers and students manage to have a break of two weeks in the fall, spring and winter. The fall semester ends before the winter break begins. In recent years, the existence of balanced calendars became a hot debate. A report published in Indiana university’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy stated, “any positive effects of a balanced calendar is largely "relative to" several other reforms schools made” ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"EaWUccFI","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}5 Big Arguments for and against a Balanced School Calendar\\uc0\\u8221{})","plainCitation":"(“5 Big Arguments for and against a Balanced School Calendar”)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":206,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/MFBMF8CC"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/MFBMF8CC"],"itemData":{"id":206,"type":"webpage","title":"5 big arguments for and against a balanced school calendar","container-title":"Indianapolis Star","abstract":"Is it better for schools to have a short summer and more breaks during the year?","URL":"https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2017/11/28/5-big-arguments-and-against-balanced-school-calendar/897533001/","language":"en","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",3,18]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“5 Big Arguments for and against a Balanced School Calendar”). Each family with a child gets affected by the decision of the district calendar. Consequently, several schools of thoughts confront and commend the practice of balanced calendars in school.

In addition, the fundamental disadvantage of the balanced calendar is the cost issue. The summer is essentially the highest season that accounts for energy consumption. The average electricity bills in homes surge up to eight percent in summers. If the classrooms are empty, it implies less energy will be utilized for meeting the necessities like air conditioning and preventing pertinent costs from expanding the utility budgets of schools. It may sound a petty matter. However, a massive increase in the utility bills of schools for one quarter of the year can cause the school to suffer economic challenges. This menace can be averted in the absence of a balanced calendar.

Second, summer is the period where most of the children prefer to engage in healthy activities. Irrefutably, children are not nourished to spend a burdensome amount of time inside the classroom. The pleasant, warmer and perfect environment of summer offers an exquisite opportunity to experience childhood and roam outside. Besides, several families advance to plan their vacations in the summer. The balanced calendar system is a potential impediment for families to plan vacations. It potentially minimizes the opportunities for job and tourism in the summer. The president of Holiday World, Matt Eckert, addressed raised this concerns as, “early school start dates drive out-of-state visitors with later school start dates away from Indiana to spend their time and money elsewhere (Eckert).” Moreover, the students are also hindered from taking a job for earning money and visiting camps. It is the most prominent disadvantage of the balanced calendar structure in schools. The practice of persistent breaks further disrupt the learning flow and process ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"D59kMAIo","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}\\uc0\\u8216{}Always Ready to Go Back\\uc0\\u8217{}\\uc0\\u8221{})","plainCitation":"(“‘Always Ready to Go Back’”)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":210,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/6WEH2BUP"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/6WEH2BUP"],"itemData":{"id":210,"type":"webpage","title":"'Always ready to go back': Could students benefit from year-round school?","container-title":"PBS NewsHour","URL":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/always-ready-go-back-students-may-benefit-year-round-schooling","shortTitle":"'Always ready to go back'","language":"en-us","issued":{"date-parts":[["2014",9,6]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",3,18]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“‘Always Ready to Go Back’”). For instance, students are away from schools in mini breaks and mostly forget what they had learned. A research expert at Auburn University concluded after conducting extensive research that, "The evidence is that it would be as useful as changing the color of the school buses ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"IHNdbRGc","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}3 Reasons Not to Adopt Year-Round Schooling\\uc0\\u8221{})","plainCitation":"(“3 Reasons Not to Adopt Year-Round Schooling”)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":212,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/ZHFYXPJU"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/ZHFYXPJU"],"itemData":{"id":212,"type":"post-weblog","title":"3 Reasons Not to Adopt Year-Round Schooling","container-title":"The Edvocate","abstract":"Spread the loveI have long been a proponent of year-round schooling. In the past, I have often discussed why I feel that teachers should get behind the push to support year-round schooling and how more consistent time in the classroom will lead to higher student performance, boosting teacher accountability ratings and accommodating a much more streamlined education process. But is it really worth up-ending the school system as we know it? Let’s look at some reasons to be concerned about changing from our traditional summers-off calendar to a year-round schooling model. 1. It could end up being more expensive. The …","URL":"https://www.theedadvocate.org/3-reasons-not-to-adopt-year-round-schooling/","language":"en-US","issued":{"date-parts":[["2016",10,27]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",3,18]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Lynch).” It further strengthens the argument that schools ought not to have a balanced calendar.

Third, the parents face grave challenges to combat the issues related to seeking childcare for their children. The parents who are generally dependent on the schools to offer care for the students during the working days are the most affected by the balanced calendar system in schools. For instance, rather than knowing it will be imperative to do something different in the summer, it becomes necessary to explore profound childcare after every few weeks. Furthermore, scheduling also becomes difficult for children in these circumstances. The students who came from the outside district can struggle to stay with the schedule persistently. Thus, the structure of balanced school systems causes both parents and children to face several adversities.

To address the other side of the debate, a wide range of people encourage balanced calendars in school. They stipulate that it is irrational to adhere to an agrarian calendar when several students do not harvest. For instance, the off time in summer can cause the children to forget essential learning. The researchers at John Hopkins University asserted that, “children from poor and middle-class families make comparable gains during the school year, but while the middle-class children make gains when they are out of school during the summer, poor and disadvantaged children make few gains or even move backwards academically ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"4bMrwi0b","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Wong)","plainCitation":"(Wong)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":208,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/QTFAMDZ7"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/h6KbaPMu/items/QTFAMDZ7"],"itemData":{"id":208,"type":"webpage","title":"What America Gets Wrong About the School Calendar","container-title":"The Atlantic","abstract":"We asked education experts how much time they think kids should spend in class. Here's what they had to say.","URL":"https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/08/education-eden-the-calendar/497687/","language":"en-US","author":[{"family":"Wong","given":"Hayley Glatter","suffix":"Emily DeRuy, Alia"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016",8,29]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",3,18]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Wong).” In contemporary days, children have established the habits of engaging in outdoor activities only. Trips to the neighborhood pool and trips have become rare. This manifests in additional burden and stress of reviewing, what they had learned, at the very beginning of the year. For several parents, remains difficult to secure profound child care with wither calendar. Thus, the pros of a balanced calendar are underpinned by confronting the disadvantages and responding to them as discussed above.

To conclude, the above-mentioned arguments highlight the adverse consequence of a balanced calendar in schools. From childcare to increased budgets in schools, several instances reflect the significance of a traditional calendar system in schools. The bottom line is that the balanced calendar in schools ought not to be followed in districts to ensure the eradication of consequent menaces as highlighted in the argument.

Works Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY “3 Reasons Not to Adopt Year-Round Schooling.” The Edvocate, 27 Oct. 2016, https://www.theedadvocate.org/3-reasons-not-to-adopt-year-round-schooling/.

“5 Big Arguments for and against a Balanced School Calendar.” Indianapolis Star, https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2017/11/28/5-big-arguments-and-against-balanced-school-calendar/897533001/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2019.

“‘Always Ready to Go Back’: Could Students Benefit from Year-Round School?” PBS NewsHour, 6 Sept. 2014, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/always-ready-go-back-students-may-benefit-year-round-schooling.

Wong, Hayley Glatter, Emily DeRuy, Alia. “What America Gets Wrong About the School Calendar.” The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/08/education-eden-the-calendar/497687/.