In light of the Los Angeles Unified School District board’s decision to change the academic calendar to a mid-August start date in 2012, Palisades Charter High School’s board is considering coordinating its schedule. ‘We need to put calendars out soon because people are anxious to start planning summer vacations,’ Principal Pamela Magee told the board at its October 18 meeting. All LAUSD schools, including Paul Revere Middle School and the three elementary schools in Pacific Palisades, are scheduled to begin next August 14 and end on June 14, 2013. These local schools, along with PaliHi, have historically started in early September and ended in late June. This school year, PaliHi began on September 7 and will finish on June 20. On October 18, the board directed Magee to organize forums to solicit input from parents and PaliHi personnel. Board Chair James Paleno said he thinks the students will benefit academically from the new schedule because the first semester would be over at winter break instead of in January. This means, students could finish their finals before taking a three-week vacation. Board member Allison Holdriff-Polhill suggested the board vote on the issue by December. PaliHi is separate from LAUSD as a fiscally independent charter school with its own board and therefore can establish its own academic calendar.
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