PYLUSD sits alone among area districts in starting school just before Labor Day. Please sign this petition to show our district that many parents, students and teachers support moving our school year earlier, to mid August. 

1. An earlier start date gives teachers more time to teach before statewide assessment tests in the spring, for primary AND secondary levels.

Particularly for our HS students, having an extra few weeks to prepare for AP or IB testing makes a huge difference. Some classes don’t even get through all the material, or finish up a few days prior to the test. The lack of time to review adds to the mental stress of students. A late start also increases the inequity between families who can afford private summer tutoring to get a head start, and other families who can’t pay for those resources. Some teachers start coursework in the summer, but not all, and that cuts into the summer when many teens may have other plans or summer jobs.

The district keeps adding more AP courses and rigorous program options, but students need the support (more time!) to take advantage of these courses. 

2. An earlier calendar would align more with surrounding districts. This synchrony in season start and end dates makes sense for our sports programs, for game scheduling and preseason training. CIF leagues consist of interdistrict schools, so it is logistically awkward. 

The 2022/23 start dates of neighboring districts are: OUSD 8/17, IUSD 8/18, TUSD 8/16, BOUSD 8/15, FSD 8/15, CNUSD (secondary) 8/9, AUHSD 8/11, SAUSD 8/15. 

3. Beginning earlier in August allows students to complete the first semester before the December winter break, rather than taking tests and turning in big projects after two weeks off. Ending the semester before winter break also feels like a more natural time to end.

4. After AP/IB testing is done, there are still 5-6 weeks of school left, and in many cases that instructional time is wasted. The exam is the culmination of all the material they need to know, so what’s left to do for another month? They are watching movies or doing unrelated projects.

Also, a 4-day Labor Day weekend interrupting the first week of school makes for an extremely slow start to the year, with instructional time being wasted those first few days. 

5. Parents who work in other districts but whose children are in PYLUSD, and vice versa, have to juggle vastly different start and end days. 

6. Community organizations like churches, club sports leagues and other extracurricular studios/programs who serve students from multiple districts have a difficult time planning their events and schedules.  

7. Many students and staff take summer courses at colleges. Ending school earlier creates fewer conflicts for them and opens up opportunities at more community colleges. 

8. Ending earlier allows more flexibility to add instructional days to the end of the year. Wildfires, Covid outbreaks, and who knows what other catastrophes throughout the year can result in the closing of school for one or more days. Anaheim UHSD has intentionally added provisional days to the end of their school year to prepare for this. It is mentally and emotionally much easier to accept a few more extra days when school ends in late May or early June. It’s hard to imagine the PYLUSD community being ok with school going into the 3rd full week of June!

It’s time to align with the rest of LA and OC. 

Please sign and let’s get this going! � 

https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/living/school-start-dates-august-parents-feat/index.html

https://archive.kpcc.org/news/2016/08/08/63318/the-first-day-of-school-keeps-getting-earlier-and/