An earlier start? Chicago asks parents to weigh in on 2022-23 school calendar

The facade of Chicago Public Schools headquarters, with the district’s sign hanging on the wall behind windows with green silhouettes of students.
Chicago Public Schools is asking parents to weigh in on possible changes to the 2022-2023 academic year. (Mauricio Peña / Chalkbeat)

Chicago Public Schools is asking parents to weigh in on possible changes to the 2022-2023 academic year.

The district is inviting parents to select one of two options through a survey. The changes would either keep the calendar similar to the 2021-22 year or move the start date a week early, according to a letter from CEO Pedro Martinez.

The survey will close on Friday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m.

This is the first time CPS families have been invited to weigh in on the calendar, Martinez said in the letter sent out Thursday.

Under option number 1, which mirrors the current school year:

  •   The academic year would begin Monday, Aug. 29, 2022 and end Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
  • The first semester would end after winter break in January 2023.
Option number 1, which mirrors the current 2021-22 school year. (Chicago Public Schools)

Under option number 2, which would line up with other suburban school districts and local colleges and universities, includes:

  •   The academic year would begin Monday, Aug. 22, 2022 and end Wednesday, June 7, 2023.
  •   The first semester would end before winter break on Friday, Dec. 22, 2022.
Under option number 2, Chicago Public Schools would line up with other suburban school districts and local colleges and universities, (Chicago Public Schools)

Both options will begin before Labor Day and include 176 days of student instruction, 12 professional learning days for teachers, and one parent-teacher conference day for high school and elementary school students in the fall and another in the spring.

They would include two weeks of winter vacation, one week for spring break, and no student instruction during the entire week of Thanksgiving.

The feedback will be evaluated and a final recommendation on the next academic year will be made to the Chicago Board of Education in March.

The Latest

Two more senior Education Department officials are leaving as Samuels tees up his first major cabinet appoints.

The bill would create a transition committee focused on how to merge over 100 programs and initiatives.

A school board policy would be more prominent and harder to change than the superintendent policies that already exist. But a board member worried about giving families false comfort.

This spring, eight public high school students are reporting audio stories about the New York City school system’s most pressing education issues for the P.S. Weekly podcast.

Tennessee Republicans are moving forward with efforts to track the immigration status of K-12 students. But an effort to charge undocumented students tuition for public schools appears dead for the year.

Gov. Jared Polis wants Colorado to participate in the federal education tax-credit program. Democratic lawmakers opposed to the idea want rules on how the program operates in the state.