From the Desk of Dr. Mark Rollefson Superintendent of the Yorkville Joint #2 School District

January 22, 2024 | Issue #31

Summer School Canceled

On Tuesday, January 16 Administration recommended to the Board of Education to cancel summer school for the summer of 2024. After hearing the pros and cons along with the rationale for this decision, the Board of Education unanimously agreed via board action.

This recommendation and decision did not come easy.  

Some of the main reasons to keep summer school open for 2024 were as follows:

1. Providing students with some options for enrichment opportunities for the summer.
2. Consistency with summer school from year to year.
3. An opportunity for staff to continue with positive connections with students.
4. An opportunity for staff to find summer employment through their school.
5. Student connections with their friends over the summer.

However the factors influencing closure outweighed the reasons to remain open:

1. Asbestos abatement begins the very first week of summer vacation.
2. Demolition of the flooring, windows, doors, ceiling, and cabinetry starts immediately after asbestos removal.
3. The entire portion of the building that involves the classrooms of Kindergarten, 1st-3rd grades, 4th-5th grades, 6th-8th grades, the small gym, and the cafeteria will not be available the entire summer.
4. The only portions of the building that could be used for summer school are the 4K room, the staff lounge, the band & choir room, and the large gym.
5. Summer school offerings would be drastically reduced.
6. Demolition of the staff/guest parking lot and driveway from Hwy 20 to that parking lot will begin the very first week after school dismisses for summer vacation.
7. The primary access to the building would be from the front (north) doors.

Many discussions to provide workarounds and at least offer some bare bones summer school classes were held. In the end, the obstacles were simply too great.

By design, we made this decision early in January to provide parents with advanced notice and time to make alternative arrangements for summer activities. We thank you for your understanding.  

The new facility upgrades will be an exciting reward in September.

Although there will be some construction in the summer of 2025, this construction is very minor in comparison and will have minimal impact on summer school. We will assuredly offer summer school in 2025.

Reschedule of the Last Day of School

The last day of school is Friday, June 7, 2024. The 8th grade graduation is scheduled for Thursday evening, June 6, 2024.

On Monday, June 10, 2024 absolutely everything in classrooms, offices, and storage places will be moved to the cafeteria. One day later, June 11th, asbestos abatement begins. The movement of items includes:

• Desks, Tables, Chairs
• Everything on the Walls
• All Technology
• Everything in Every Drawer, Cabinet, Locker, or Storage Space
• Everything Literally Means Everything

All items will need to be boxed and labeled with the teacher's name, room number, and where in the classroom it is to be returned in late August.

Now that we have this timeline narrowly defined, it is evident that time in late May and/or early June will be premium. It would be ideal to provide our staff with 1-2 days to complete the necessary packing, labeling, and tossing. As such, we are hopeful to adjust the last day of school according to the table below.

The 8th grade graduation date, time, and location will not be changed. It will remain at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, 2024.

The date for Field Day is typically not determined until April. We will still schedule our annual Field Day during the last days of school. The last concert is May 21st and the last sports game/meet is in mid-May. As such, these events are not impacted by a decision to end school early.

Snow days are an influencing factor. Although it is true that we have more days built into our school year now than we did 1-2 years ago, it is still finite at 4.0 days.

As you know we have already used 2.0 days. If we do not use any more inclement weather days, our plan is to adjust the last day of school per the chart above by 2 days. Comparatively, the same is true if we have one remaining inclement weather day, we will adjust the calendar by one day per the chart above.

Please understand that the District has no intent to keep school in session during dangerous weather only to impact the adjustments of the last day of school. Safety is still first.

This sliding scale adjustment in the calendar can only be made by the Board of Education. The Administration brought this recommendation and rationale to the Board on Tuesday, January 16, 2024. The Board of Education voted and unanimously supported this adjustment schedule.

It is possible we will not know whether there is an adjustment until mid-April. Wisconsin weather, as you know, is unpredictable in the spring. I recall a May 10th snowstorm in my early teaching years, in 1990.

We will keep you informed as time goes on. Our intent is to make a final decision regarding an adjustment to the last day of school no later than May 1st.

Extra Snow Days Built In

The calendar I inherited the year I became superintendent had only 4 hours built in for inclement weather. The following year, we added five minutes to the end of the day. This increased our total number of days built in to a total of about 2.0. We then added five minutes to the beginning of the day for this current school year. This brought our total days built in for inclement weather to 4.0 days. This is a reasonable number.

The 2024-2025 School Calendar

The Board of Education approved the 2024-2025 school calendar. It is linked here and it is posted on our website.

I am hopeful this newsletter was informative. Feedback is welcomed. My email address is mark.rollefson@yorkville.k12.wi.us and I always appreciate hearing from you.