Parents of kids in DeKalb County schools, including those in Stone Mountain and Lithonia, have until Sept. 26 to weigh in on the school district's proposed calendars.

Both calendar options are attached to this article.

The district's calendar committee came up with two proposals: a traditional calendar, with a back-to-school start date of Aug. 12 and an end date of May 23.  The district said it has historically adopted the traditional calendar model.

The second option is a balanced calendar -- where kids would go back to school on Aug. 5 and have their last day of the school year on May 29. This calendar has an additional week of vacation in each semester.

Which school calendar do you prefer? Take our poll and leave a comment at the end of this article.

According to the news release from the school district, balanced calendars are getting more popular: Rockdale County Public Schools and the City Schools of Decatur use them.

The release states that both calendars have 180 school days for the students and an additional 10 days for the teachers. These days are made up of nine work days and four two-hour teacher conference nights.

Among other consideration is a weekly one-hour early release in order to
allow for professional development for all teachers and administrators, the school district said.

“We know that in order to provide the best possible education for our
students, our teachers must also be life-long learners,” said Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson in the district's release. “These professional learning opportunities will help our staff help our children.”

The school district said community members may participate in a brief survey to gauge the level of support for each calendar as well as the early release day.

The survey also is available in Spanish.

All public comment will be reviewed by the committee, at which point a recommendation will be made to the superintendent to present to the Board of Education on Oct. 1. The Board of Education will vote on the calendar at its Oct. 8 meeting.

See also:

School Calendar to Stop Summer Brain Drain?

Parent Roundtables Will Come to 2 Local High Schools

A List of Stone Mountain Schools