EV Students Try New Winter Break

Students in East Valley schools are on vacation next week in a trial mid-winter break.

The week starts off with President’s Day, which schools across the Spokane Valley take off; then East Valley students and teachers have four days of vacation.

“Call it an intensity break,” said Superintendent Les Portner. He’s referring to the pressure felt by teachers in East Valley and elsewhere to push and pull the new state test scores ever upward. The tests, which students will take in April, have become a dominating force in many classrooms.

East Valley isn’t the only district to try this February break. Deer Park School District tried it last year. The conseqences were positive, if unanticipated, in at least one school.

An infestation of head lice swamped students at Arcadia Elementary School last year just before the mid-winter break, said Principal Bonnie Bantis.

“So we had numerous children out with that,” Bantis said. “Plus, last year, we had that awful flu with vomiting and high fevers. One day, we had nine children out with that.”

The week at home gave parents time to rid their children of the lice and nits, as well as time to slow down the contagious flu. After the week off, attendance was back up to normal levels.

“So for us, it was one of the best things for our school,” Bantis said.

Officials in East Valley schools say they haven’t heard parents commenting about the new plan, one way or the other. At least one family from Trentwood Elementary plans to take advantage of the week to visit DisneyWorld, said the school secretary.

“Reminders, reminders, reminders” have been sent home in each school, Portner said.

Some parents seem to have been caught by surprise, regardless.

“I’ve talked to some parents and they say they’ve just found out,” said Kuray Arland, who organizes the Valley YMCA before- and after-school child care programs at nearly 20 schools.

The YMCA will run day camps next week at Trent, Trentwood, Otis Orchards and East Farms elementary schools.

Arland said she has added some staff, but that it’s hard to hire as many extra counselors as she could use, for just four days.

Deer Park surveyed its parents last winter after the break. The results in Deer Park were mixed, and although their students have next week off this year, the Deer Park school board has decided not to continue the break next year, Bantis said.

East Valley also will survey parents after the week off, to see if this experiment is worth keeping.