Book those summer plans: Sac City Unified finally settles on school year start date

Two months after its initial proposal, the Sacramento City Unified School District pulled back on its plans to change the start of the school calendar year.

The district announced last week that the first day of the next school year will be Aug. 29, and the last day will be June 11. But the district added it may push for an earlier start to the 2020 school year.

“We want to give families plenty of advance notice that the district will once again be proposing an earlier start date for the 2020-21 school year and hope to begin negotiations with all of our labor partners on our proposed calendar very soon,” read the statement.

The district previously announced in January that its Board of Education approved a calendar change that would allow the next school year to begin on Aug. 14 and end on May 28, pending approval from labor unions.

But the district could not reach an agreement with all labor unions on the proposed changes, according to a statement released on its website.

Four district labor unions — SEIU 1021, United Professional Educators, Teamsters Local 150 and Teamsters Classified Supervisors — supported the calendar changes. The Sacramento City Teachers Association had not agreed to the changes.

“We believe that any change to the calendar requires a true commitment from the district to take input from educators, students and parents,” read a statement from the teachers union.

District officials said they intended to change the calendar in an effort to coincide with surrounding school districts, particularly because they miss opportunities such as community college summer classes and other programs. The district’s school year calendar currently ends after Sacramento City College’s first summer session begins.

In previous years, many students reportedly missed class because the first day of school landed close to Labor Day, according to the district.

“This change is very student-centered,” Superintendent Jorge Aguilar told The Sacramento Bee in January. “I would like to see our high school students capitalize on opportunities to enroll in Sacramento City College, particularly in career pathway programs.”

The teachers union said community members expressed concern that students would attend classes throughout August — one of the warmest months of the year.

“We hope that as discussions move forward, the district is willing to make that necessary commitment to seek real input from all stakeholders,” read the teachers unions statement.

This story was originally published March 25, 2019 at 11:23 AM.