Fayette students

could start school on a Friday under one proposed calendar for the 2002-2003

school year.

A calendar

committee presented two proposals for the Board of Education's consideration

during the board's meeting Monday night. The board will ponder the choices

for a month and take a vote at its March 19 meeting.

Under one proposal,

school would start Friday, Aug. 9, with pre-planning Aug. 6-8. Under the

other, it would start Monday, Aug. 12, with pre-planning Wednesday through

Friday of the previous week. If school were to start Friday, the extra

day would be tacked onto the winter break.

Some board

members said they don't think much of the idea.

"I think

it's totally ridiculous," said board Vice Chairman Greg Powers. "We

need that weekend to get everything ready and prepared," he said,

adding that contractors usually are pushing to finish construction projects

in time for school to start, and this would put even more pressure on

them.

"As early

in August as we're going to be starting anyway, we're pinning ourselves

down big time here," he said.

Parents probably

won't like the proposal either, said board member Janet Smola. "People

already feel they're being robbed of their summer," she said.

Powers also

looked askance at a separate proposal for five early release days, to

give teachers extra staff development time.

"We feel

that it's a very needed thing," said Pam Riddle, director of elementary

school operations, in presenting the committee's recommendations. Students

would be released two hours early Sept. 25, Nov. 6, Jan. 29, March 5 and

April 30.

"For elementary

school kids, that would put them out at 12:30," said Powers. "That's

five days out of the year people are going to be totally inconvenienced,"

he said, adding that some schools don't even finish serving lunch by 12:30.

He also took

exception to the idea of adding a few minutes to each school day to make

up the lost instruction time.

Saying it prefers

the five-day proposal, the Calendar Committee also offered a two-day early

release proposal, which board members seemed more inclined to accept.

The proposed

calendars have been circulated among school faculties to gather comment.

Copies are available at the Board of Education office.

The March 19

meeting will be at 7 p.m.