Parkland Officials Weigh Earlier Start To School Year

Parkland School District officials have begun to talk about the possibility of starting the 2012-2013 school year a week earlier than usual, prior to the Labor Day weekend.

Superintendent Richard Sniscak told committees of school board members this week that it’s something to consider. Sniscak was prompted to float the idea because some of the other school districts that also send students to the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute return to school before Labor Day.

It might make sense then for Parkland to also start earlier, Sniscak said. “It’s a discussion that we need to have,” he said.

Sniscak said that if school officials decide to start earlier, it would be of utmost importance to communicate with parents. Also, he acknowledged that it might be a concern for students who have summer jobs at the Allentown Fair and Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom.

Sniscak raised the issue during two committee meetings this week. During the school board’s Personnel and Finance Committee meeting on Monday, board member Roberta Marcus expressed some irritation with the school districts that already have moved to earlier calendars.

However, on Tuesday, during the Education and Athletics Committee meeting, school board President Jayne Bartlett and member Debra Evans indicated that they would have no problem with changing the calendar.