OUSD’s school calendar—which sets the first day of classes, holidays and breaks, and the summer recess—is an all-important document. Families rely on it to plan their lives, including summer vacations and summer camps for kids, which are key for working parents who need childcare most of the year.
However, the way that OUSD’s sets its calendar has been a source of frustration for lots of families. Unlike many school districts, OUSD doesn’t plan very far ahead. Whereas some other districts issue calendars up to three years in advance, OUSD only sets its calendar one year at a time. And some parents say the district’s practice of issuing its calendar less than six months before the start of school causes unnecessary amounts of stress as they struggle to make plans.
This year has been typical. Now many Oakland families want more of a voice in calendar decisions.
Last week, the OUSD board finally approved a calendar for the next school year, 2024-2025. School will begin on Aug. 8 and end on May 27, 2025, the day after Memorial Day. The early start of the year—lots of other districts begin classes in mid-to-late August—also means during the weeks of the hottest summer weather, students are in classrooms.
“Having been a teacher in the classroom when we start that early, it is hella hot in those classrooms,” said Jennifer Brouhard, a retired teacher who represents District 2 on the school board. “There’s nothing like somebody coming around saying, ‘How are the kids learning?’ and you’re like, ‘They’re just barely keeping alive in here.’”
How OUSD’s calendar is set
The OUSD school calendar is a subject of bargaining between the school district and the teachers union. Once they come to an agreement, the calendar is approved by the school board.
This year, a draft of the calendar was considered by the school board on Jan. 24, but staff requested more time to fine-tune it, so final approval was postponed to the Feb. 14 meeting, when it was approved.
California’s Education Code dictates the minimum number of days and minutes of instruction, but other aspects of the calendar are up for negotiation, like the start and end dates, the start and ends of grading periods, and professional development days.
But with summer break starting so early, it can add stress for working parents looking for childcare between the end of school and the start of camps. This year, OUSD breaks for the summer on May 23. The city’s summer camps begin on June 3.
“What ends up happening, because school ends so early, one of us has to now take up to a month off of work in order to be with him until camps can start,” said Cathy Hickey, a mom of two who has struggled to find adequate childcare for her son, who is neurodivergent. “That is really challenging for us and it can be a huge loss of income.”
Dozens of online comments and emails sent to the school board recently echo Hickey’s thoughts.
OUSD is restricted in when exactly the school year can start and end, district leaders said. The district also has to take into account payroll issues. During the Jan. 24 school board meeting, OUSD’s interim general counsel and head of labor relations Jenine Lindsey explained that since teachers and staff are paid on a 10-month cycle, paychecks are issued between August and May. If the school year goes into June, it means staff are working beyond their last paycheck.
If the pay cycle was moved to September through June, teachers would begin work in August and not receive a paycheck until September.
“That was a recruitment and retention issue for the district, so we moved the pay cycle up so that the pay period starts and first paycheck was issued on August 30, and last paycheck on May 30,” Lindsey said during the Jan. 24 meeting.
Within those constraints, district leaders tried to heed parents’ concerns about school starting so early, and moved the first day of school to later in the week—a Thursday—Lindsey said.
Moving the start date up also means students who are taking dual enrollment courses at the Peralta Colleges have more time to get their class schedules figured out, and high school students taking semester exams can take them before the winter break instead of after, said OUSD Board President Sam Davis.
Parents want more input
Some parents are still hoping they can weigh in more on future calendar decisions.
For Julia Landau, a mother of two students at Emerson Elementary, the days off that aren’t tied to national holidays and early release days every week are disruptive for her family’s schedule, and make it difficult for parents to maintain a consistent work schedule.
“How could I have a regular job and figure out this amount of non-national holidays, not religious holidays or anything like that?”
Landau told The Oaklandside she would appreciate the chance to give input on the calendar and when shortened school days should fall.
“It would be awesome if there was a parent survey that asked, ‘Would you prefer the minimum day to be on a Friday?’” she said. “If it was on a Friday it wouldn’t be such a brutal interruption in the middle of the week.”
District officials told The Oaklandside there is a desire on all sides to do more community engagement around the calendar and move toward approving three-year calendars at a time like other school districts do. Oakland Education Association president Ismael Armendariz acknowledged how the school calendar can be difficult to work around.
“I think our unique timing creates challenges for teachers, educators, and the community. We start so early and end so early,” Armendariz said. “There are structural challenges as well and I don’t know the solution to that. But I think we can get creative and figure it out.”
