Dear Families,

At last evening’s Northfield Board of Education meeting, 26 parents, students and community members spoke with concern about the proposed change to the school district calendar structure for 2013-14. We appreciate the public sharing their concerns, especially regarding the desire to maintain access to summer activities and the accelerated timeline for considering its approval under state flexible learning year application requirements.

The board voted unanimously to stop consideration of a more balanced calendar for the 2013-14 school year. They directed administration to recommend a 2013-14 calendar in an upcoming meeting based on the traditional academic year with an after Labor Day start.

In addition, the board directed the administration to cancel the three public meetings about the balanced calendar. The meetings scheduled for January 15, 17 and 22 will not be held. Further they requested that administration develop a plan to more deeply engage our community in a discussion about what kind of academic calendar will most benefit students in the future. We will share more about this process and how to become involved after it is reviewed by the board.

Respectfully,

Chris Richardson, Superintendent