Coweta County's parents have just under three weeks left to make their

feelings known about school calendars for the next two years.

During this month's Board of Education meeting, the board placed the

proposed calendars for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years on the table

for input.

The calendars, according to Public Information Officer Dean Jackson, were

recommended by Superintendent Blake Bass after consulting with parents and

teachers.

Jackson said the proposed 2005-06 calendars would begin school Aug. 11,

2005, and end school May 26, 2006. It would include a five-day weekend Oct.

13-17 and a four-day weekend Feb. 17-20 to serve as short midterm breaks.

In 2006-07, the calendar would closely resemble next year's. School

would start Aug. 9, 2006, and end May 25, 2007. Midterm breaks would be Oct.

11-15 and Feb. 16-19. Teacher work days also begin or end each nine-week

period.

School calendars must include 180 days of student instruction and 190 teacher

workdays.�The school year must also end on a Friday.

Jackson said the proposed calendars also follow the goal of completing the

first semester before the winter break, to finish a full semester of instruction

and accommodate new state end-of-course exams that must be given by or before

Dec. 20.

Parent and teacher committees met with Bass over two meetings at the Centre

for Performing and Visual arts to work on calendars and propose versions

to him.

Generally, parents indicated a desire to start school later, and teachers

indicated a desire to start earlier and move toward a "balanced" calendar

that allowed for week-long mid-term breaks, Jackson added.

The calendar submitted to the board by Superintendent Bass was a compromise

version proposed to reach a consensus among advising parents and teachers.