I agree with others who have commented that our ultimate goal here should be to align with neighboring district schedules and start the 2nd full week of August (8/12/24) and run into the start of June. However, I understand that that might not possible due to various OUSD limits and staff working into June (a situation we should aim to rectify for future!). The current proposed late in week start date is brutal on working parents and having the last day of school to be the day after a long weekend is VERY likely to mean many unexcused absences on that day (aka less money for the district). While not my ultimate preference, given the OUSD restraints for the 2024-25 year, I vote to return to the proposed start date of 8/6 (or possibly 8/7) and end on 5/22 (or possibly 5/23) so that we don't bleed past the Memorial Day holiday by a single instruction day. Thank you.
I appreciate the effort going into creating this calendar but, like other parents, wish we could decide on the calendar before parents must sign up for camp. I would also like the school year to align with other districts and start later in August. Ideally, the school year would begin August 12th, but for this year, I would vote for school to begin 8/6/24. No family wants school to start on a Thursday or have the last day to be the day after Memorial Day.
As a family with two full-time working parents one with limited PTO and the other with no PTO, I oppose the proposed calendar that has kids starting school on Thursday Aug 8 and ending on Tuesday May 27. We will most likely not be able to find camps to cover the first and last week of the school years because of these abrupt, mid-week start/stop dates. While the draft calendar running Aug 6 - May 22 is not ideal because it does not align with neighboring school districts, it is preferable to the other proposed calendar.
Please align schedules with neighboring districts. It is a terrible idea to come back to school for 1 day after Memorial Day- attendance will be impacted and 3day camps will be hard to find. Please consider working families when making calendar decisions.
We really want to start school on August 12th like all neighboring districts. Please.
Starting so early makes it hard to see family who lives in other places as a majority of other areas start much later in August. The kids are in the classroom for the hottest month and having “summer” in May & June when it’s cold and gray.
If you need the semester to end before winter break (as seems important to OUSD-- why isn't it important to other school districts?), please try other means, like not giving the full week of Thanksgiving off. Thanks.
Let’s ask ourselves why is Oakland the only district starting school the first week of August. Please consider working parents when drafting these schedules.
Align with other adjacent school districts so camps and friends schedules are compatible. Start Mid Aug. at the earliest and end in June. Like every other school does.
Let’s ask ourselves why is Oakland the only district starting school the first week of August. Please consider working parents when drafting these schedules.
Align with other adjacent school districts so camps and friends schedules are compatible. Start Mid Aug. at the earliest and end in June. Like every other school does.
I support the version that has school starting earlier and ending BEFORE Memorial Day. It’s foolish to have kids return for one last day AFTER a 3-day weekend. Also, we can’t sign up for camps and childcare easily if school starts on a Thursday.
Like most (all?) who have written here, we are baffled by this nonsensical proposal for 24-25 OUSD school year calendar.
While a Monday, August 5th start date seems early, I understand the reasoning for this shift as it allows middle school and high school kids to end their semester prior to Winter Break. I’ve come to accept this because at least there’s some reasoning behind it.
Starting school on a Thursday is pretty silly but more importantly wreaks havoc on family schedules. No camp is going to offer a 3-day camp and even if they do, it would be very hard on kids to go to 3 days of camp and then immediately change gears the next day to start a new school year. Parents have to work (remember?) and may have to work in-person. Childcare is a requirement, not an optional luxury.
And having the last day of school on the Tuesday following the Memorial Day holiday? Have y’all seriously lost your minds? No child, parent, or teacher wants this. This must be avoided at all costs.
I am against the planned calendar that starts on a Thursday in August with the last day of school being the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Those are 2 partial weeks that make childcare very difficult as camp is not possible. I feel for both the first 2 days and last day of school attendance will be reduced as parents have to figure out child care for partial weeks. While I would prefer to better align our schedule with neighboring districts this attempt to half way meet that is worse than just starting a week earlier and ending a week earlier.
I would like the school year to mirror local districts or to start in September and end in June. Starting school in the middle of the summer never made sense to me and I have opposed the early start date since it was first implemented. Other things I want to see is better planning from board. Summer camps have been open for weeks, yet this is the first I'm hearing about the first day of school. Why was this not planned in the fall of 2023? Can you take a lead on planning 2025-2026 this fall so families can be better prepared?
Regarding this specific proposal, it doesn't make sense for families OR teachers seeking childcare in one week increments. Please reconsider and listen to your constituents. Thank you.
I know that academic calendars are always a difficult puzzle where noone can be entirely happy; if you shift something someone wins but someone else loses. However, I agree with others that including one day of school after Memorial Day presents challenges. Aside from making it challenging for parents to find contiguous care, I anticipate a very high number of absences that day, which can impact the district financially. I'm not sure who "wins" with this decision. Why not start 8/13 and end 5/30? That gives some of us seeking care the option to enroll in camps the week of 8/5 and have coverage through school the week of 5/26. Barring that, I'd go with the 8/6 - 5/22 option.
I’d ask to please reconsider the 24-25 school year calendar — and also start planning 25-26 now because this late decision is baffling.
It makes no sense to start on a Thursday, and end on a Tuesday after a holiday weekend. Aside from making this even more stressful than it needs to be, do our educators and administrators want to come back for one day?
Please either start on the 6th, or the following week. Allow working families to plan their care. And please plan the calendar more than 5 months in advance so working families (which include our educators) can find care and camps can figure out their schedules. Aligning with surrounding school districts would go a long way in enabling camps to open and us families to find affordable care for our kids.
Please align schedules with neighboring districts. It does not make sense to come back to school for 1 day after Memorial Day. Unless OUSD wants to provide childcare for the rest of the week! It’s so hard to find camps that start so early.
I second the various comments about wanting the school schedule to at least mirror other local districts. However, in the interest of expediency for 24-25, the prior 8/6 start is preferable. This new proposal is worse in that it doesn't effectively address the early start and sidles families with partial weeks of school for which it's difficult to find care. I'd rather end before Memorial Day than have a single day of school after.
In the future, we should have calendars planned in three year blocks.
Like my fellow OUSD parents, I support a later start date which would match neighboring school districts and the camp schedules that would make it possible for working families (i.e. ALL OF US) to send our kids to camp without missing work, and experiencing continued stress around the OUSD calendar. And if we're going to end the school year after Memorial Day, it shouldn't be for just one day, as attendance will be abysmal and it's not practical for families. We know there are many factors to creating the schedule, however family needs should be a top priority. Thank you
Given our outdated heating and cooling systems, wild fire season, and general western hemisphere cultural guidelines can we please consider starting school in September and ending in June?
We really want to start school on August 12th like all neighboring districts.
Ending May 27 still creates a childcare/camp issue as we are the only school not in session. Going back so early also interferes with childcare that week (it’s much harder to get care for half a week).
Starting so early makes it hard to see family who lives in other places as a majority of other areas start much later in August. The kids are in the classroom
For the hottest month and having “summer” when it’s cold and gray.
I also appreciate the effort to accommodate many stakeholders in this decision making. Please end the school year the week before Memorial Day or the week - please please please not the Tuesday after the holiday weekend. If this means start on Tuesday 8/6 then please make the call.
Please start discussions for the 25-26 school year now so that you can get feedback and vote on this by December of this year. If at all possible, please align with neighboring school districts to facilitate the community supports that Oakland families need. Thank you!
I agree with others who have commented that our ultimate goal here should be to align with neighboring district schedules and start the 2nd full week of August (8/12/24) and run into the start of June. However, I understand that that might not possible due to various OUSD limits and staff working into June (a situation we should aim to rectify for future!). The current proposed late in week start date is brutal on working parents and having the last day of school to be the day after a long weekend is VERY likely to mean many unexcused absences on that day (aka less money for the district). While not my ultimate preference, given the OUSD restraints for the 2024-25 year, I vote to return to the proposed start date of 8/6 (or possibly 8/7) and end on 5/22 (or possibly 5/23) so that we don't bleed past the Memorial Day holiday by a single instruction day. Thank you.
I appreciate the effort going into creating this calendar but, like other parents, wish we could decide on the calendar before parents must sign up for camp. I would also like the school year to align with other districts and start later in August. Ideally, the school year would begin August 12th, but for this year, I would vote for school to begin 8/6/24. No family wants school to start on a Thursday or have the last day to be the day after Memorial Day.
As a family with two full-time working parents one with limited PTO and the other with no PTO, I oppose the proposed calendar that has kids starting school on Thursday Aug 8 and ending on Tuesday May 27. We will most likely not be able to find camps to cover the first and last week of the school years because of these abrupt, mid-week start/stop dates. While the draft calendar running Aug 6 - May 22 is not ideal because it does not align with neighboring school districts, it is preferable to the other proposed calendar.
Please align schedules with neighboring districts. It is a terrible idea to come back to school for 1 day after Memorial Day- attendance will be impacted and 3day camps will be hard to find. Please consider working families when making calendar decisions.
We really want to start school on August 12th like all neighboring districts. Please.
Starting so early makes it hard to see family who lives in other places as a majority of other areas start much later in August. The kids are in the classroom for the hottest month and having “summer” in May & June when it’s cold and gray.
If you need the semester to end before winter break (as seems important to OUSD-- why isn't it important to other school districts?), please try other means, like not giving the full week of Thanksgiving off. Thanks.
Let’s ask ourselves why is Oakland the only district starting school the first week of August. Please consider working parents when drafting these schedules.
Align with other adjacent school districts so camps and friends schedules are compatible. Start Mid Aug. at the earliest and end in June. Like every other school does.
Let’s ask ourselves why is Oakland the only district starting school the first week of August. Please consider working parents when drafting these schedules.
Align with other adjacent school districts so camps and friends schedules are compatible. Start Mid Aug. at the earliest and end in June. Like every other school does.
I support the version that has school starting earlier and ending BEFORE Memorial Day. It’s foolish to have kids return for one last day AFTER a 3-day weekend. Also, we can’t sign up for camps and childcare easily if school starts on a Thursday.
Like most (all?) who have written here, we are baffled by this nonsensical proposal for 24-25 OUSD school year calendar.
While a Monday, August 5th start date seems early, I understand the reasoning for this shift as it allows middle school and high school kids to end their semester prior to Winter Break. I’ve come to accept this because at least there’s some reasoning behind it.
Starting school on a Thursday is pretty silly but more importantly wreaks havoc on family schedules. No camp is going to offer a 3-day camp and even if they do, it would be very hard on kids to go to 3 days of camp and then immediately change gears the next day to start a new school year. Parents have to work (remember?) and may have to work in-person. Childcare is a requirement, not an optional luxury.
And having the last day of school on the Tuesday following the Memorial Day holiday? Have y’all seriously lost your minds? No child, parent, or teacher wants this. This must be avoided at all costs.
I am against the planned calendar that starts on a Thursday in August with the last day of school being the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Those are 2 partial weeks that make childcare very difficult as camp is not possible. I feel for both the first 2 days and last day of school attendance will be reduced as parents have to figure out child care for partial weeks. While I would prefer to better align our schedule with neighboring districts this attempt to half way meet that is worse than just starting a week earlier and ending a week earlier.
I vote for school starting on August 12 or 13.
I would like the school year to mirror local districts or to start in September and end in June. Starting school in the middle of the summer never made sense to me and I have opposed the early start date since it was first implemented. Other things I want to see is better planning from board. Summer camps have been open for weeks, yet this is the first I'm hearing about the first day of school. Why was this not planned in the fall of 2023? Can you take a lead on planning 2025-2026 this fall so families can be better prepared?
Regarding this specific proposal, it doesn't make sense for families OR teachers seeking childcare in one week increments. Please reconsider and listen to your constituents. Thank you.
I know that academic calendars are always a difficult puzzle where noone can be entirely happy; if you shift something someone wins but someone else loses. However, I agree with others that including one day of school after Memorial Day presents challenges. Aside from making it challenging for parents to find contiguous care, I anticipate a very high number of absences that day, which can impact the district financially. I'm not sure who "wins" with this decision. Why not start 8/13 and end 5/30? That gives some of us seeking care the option to enroll in camps the week of 8/5 and have coverage through school the week of 5/26. Barring that, I'd go with the 8/6 - 5/22 option.
I’d ask to please reconsider the 24-25 school year calendar — and also start planning 25-26 now because this late decision is baffling.
It makes no sense to start on a Thursday, and end on a Tuesday after a holiday weekend. Aside from making this even more stressful than it needs to be, do our educators and administrators want to come back for one day?
Please either start on the 6th, or the following week. Allow working families to plan their care. And please plan the calendar more than 5 months in advance so working families (which include our educators) can find care and camps can figure out their schedules. Aligning with surrounding school districts would go a long way in enabling camps to open and us families to find affordable care for our kids.
Please align schedules with neighboring districts. It does not make sense to come back to school for 1 day after Memorial Day. Unless OUSD wants to provide childcare for the rest of the week! It’s so hard to find camps that start so early.
I second the various comments about wanting the school schedule to at least mirror other local districts. However, in the interest of expediency for 24-25, the prior 8/6 start is preferable. This new proposal is worse in that it doesn't effectively address the early start and sidles families with partial weeks of school for which it's difficult to find care. I'd rather end before Memorial Day than have a single day of school after.
In the future, we should have calendars planned in three year blocks.
Like my fellow OUSD parents, I support a later start date which would match neighboring school districts and the camp schedules that would make it possible for working families (i.e. ALL OF US) to send our kids to camp without missing work, and experiencing continued stress around the OUSD calendar. And if we're going to end the school year after Memorial Day, it shouldn't be for just one day, as attendance will be abysmal and it's not practical for families. We know there are many factors to creating the schedule, however family needs should be a top priority. Thank you
Given our outdated heating and cooling systems, wild fire season, and general western hemisphere cultural guidelines can we please consider starting school in September and ending in June?
We really want to start school on August 12th like all neighboring districts.
Ending May 27 still creates a childcare/camp issue as we are the only school not in session. Going back so early also interferes with childcare that week (it’s much harder to get care for half a week).
Starting so early makes it hard to see family who lives in other places as a majority of other areas start much later in August. The kids are in the classroom
For the hottest month and having “summer” when it’s cold and gray.
I also appreciate the effort to accommodate many stakeholders in this decision making. Please end the school year the week before Memorial Day or the week - please please please not the Tuesday after the holiday weekend. If this means start on Tuesday 8/6 then please make the call.
Please start discussions for the 25-26 school year now so that you can get feedback and vote on this by December of this year. If at all possible, please align with neighboring school districts to facilitate the community supports that Oakland families need. Thank you!