Semesters balanced in winter schedule change

The OPUSD calendar committee pushed the start of winter break back one week this year.

The break starts Dec. 23 and ends Jan. 9, unlike last year’s break, which began Dec. 18. The amount of time spent on break will not change; students will continue to be out of school for 11 weekdays.

According to Principal Kevin Buchanan, the change was made to balance the number of school days allocated to each semester.

“[The change] is related to how many days are in a school year. [We] need to have balanced semesters at the high school level,” Buchanan said.

The change, which was printed on the original 2016-2017 district calendar, led — for some families — to a more hectic final week of exams, holiday traditions and travel plans.

Some students said they believe this push does not allow a smooth transition from finals week into the holidays.

“I think it’s quite difficult to go on break only two days before Christmas without time to recover from finals,” senior Deborah Ong said. “Christmas break is about family and spending time with them and it sometimes is overlooked by the overwhelmingness of keeping up with school.”

[The change] is related to how many days are in a school year. [We] need to have balanced semesters at the high school level.

— Kevin Buchanan

For sophomore Yuval Karoly, who celebrates Hanukkah, the change is hardly a notable one.

“Hanukkah is not taken into consideration anyways because the [dates of celebration] change every year, so it’s often during school,” sophomore Yuval Karoly said. “Now, even though Hanukkah starts the 24th this year, it’s nothing we’re not used to.”

For some, the schedule shift has also affected annual travel plans.

“I have to spend less time with my cousins in Dallas because of winter break being pushed back,” sophomore Jacob Smith said. “[The trip] is normally a tradition.”

However, the calendar change originally occurred in response to student stress.

“The new policy on ending the first semester before winter break [is] so that finals occur before the break,” Buchanan said.

Sophomore Ariel Davydov was relieved to hear that, unlike academic calendars prior to the 2015-2016 school year, the policy of having finals before winter break would continue.

“‘I’m kind of grateful it’s being pushed back a week, as long as it means that finals are before winter break,” Davydov said.

The policy is not intended to change the amount of time spent on break, only the start and stop time. As a result, math teacher Jacqueline Lac said the change does not impact teacher workloads when grading first-semester final exams and projects.

“It is not that big of a deal,” Lac said. “I feel like it would impact students more than teachers.”

The new schedule starts winter break one week later than other, surrounding districts. Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, starts break Dec. 16.

“I think this [change] is necessary, because if winter break were earlier, we would have had to start school a week earlier,” freshman counselor Janet Svoboda said.