Results from the

School Calendar Survey

December 13, 2016

Kristin Kappelman Jessica Bizub

Andrew Muriuki

Research and Evaluation

CALENDAR SURVEY 2

Introduction

Historically, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has used three calendars for its schools:

The traditional calendar, which typically starts around Labor Day and ends in mid-June;

The year-round calendar, which typically starts in August and ends in June, with additional days

off throughout the school year; and

The International Baccalaureate (IB) calendar, which starts in mid-August and ends in May.

In an effort to improve educational opportunities for students and make more efficient use of district

resources, MPS wanted to seek approval from the Milwaukee Board of School Directors and the

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to implement a one-calendar system. Under the

proposed one-calendar system, schools would follow the IB calendar, starting in mid-August and ending

in May.

Along with the new calendar, MPS was also planning to offer optional instruction during the “J (June)

Term.” The J Term would occur over five weeks in June and July, and students would be offered a variety

of educational courses for credit recovery, enrichment, service learning, and other opportunities.

Immediately following J Term, summer school would continue in July.

Along with the proposed calendar change, MPS was also interested in pursuing a district-wide uniform

policy.

In order to gather feedback on these two proposed changes, a brief survey was created. The online

survey was disseminated online via the MPS homepage, social media, and listening sessions conducted

at multiple locations. In order to target feedback from parents who may not have online access, paper

copies in English and Spanish were also made available to parent coordinators, who disseminated the

surveys at their school sites.

It should be noted that respondents to this survey are self-selected and should not be construed as a

“sample.” Characteristics of scientifically drawn probability samples such as “confidence intervals,”

“statistical significance,” and “margin of error” are not relevant for these survey results. However, the

fact of the matter is that over 11,000 individuals took the time and effort to respond to the survey, and

these responses comprise a large body of opinion data. While the results of the survey may not be

interpreted in terms of “statistical significance,” they should be viewed as “substantively significant.”

The survey window opened on November 2, 2016 and closed on December 2, 2016. A total of 11,762

responses were received. A summary of the results follows.

CALENDAR SURVEY 3

Respondents

Respondents were allowed to check multiple options to select their role1. The largest group of

respondents was parents of current/potential MPS students, with 5,640 people selecting this option.

School-based employees, with 3,530 respondents, was the next largest group represented. These groups

were followed by community member (1,508 respondents), district-based employee (1,492

respondents), and student (1,382 respondents).

Individuals who selected that they were a parent of a current/potential MPS student, school-based

employee, or a student were also asked to check one calendar that they were currently a part of. The

vast majority of respondents indicated that they were part of the traditional calendar, with 86% of

school staff, parents, and students selecting this option.

1 Please see Appendix 1 for a complete breakdown of roles. The number of roles will be higher than the number of survey responses received since respondents could select multiple roles.

1,508 1,492

5,640

635

3,530

1,382

417

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

Communitymember

District-basedemployee

Parent of MPSstudent

Parent of non-MPS student

School-basedemployee

Student Other

Parents of MPS students are largest response group

CALENDAR SURVEY 4

Calendar Proposal

Respondents were asked to select whether they would support changing all schools to one calendar that

would begin in mid-August and end in May. Slightly more than half of respondents (6,461 respondents;

55%) indicated that they would not support the one-calendar system, with 45% (5,302 respondents)

indicating that they would support one calendar.

86%

6% 6%2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Traditional IB Year-round Don't know

Parent, school staff, and students are under traditional calendar currently

Support one calendar, 45%Do not support one

calendar, 55%

Slightly less than half support one calendar

Support one calendar Do not support one calendar

CALENDAR SURVEY 5

When looking at support for the calendar by role2, district-based employees and respondents who

selected other had majorities of respondents who supported the one-calendar proposal. Less than half

of community members, school-based employees, or parents of current MPS students supported the

proposal.

MPS also wanted to know what questions the respondent or the respondent’s family may have about

the one-calendar system. Respondents were allowed to select from a list that included questions about

transportation, sports, enrollment, or time off. Three-fourths of respondents had questions as to how

the one-calendar proposal would affect time off from school. One-third of respondents wanted to know

when enrollment would occur. Just over 25% indicated that they had questions concerning

transportation to and from school, and 21% wanted to know how the calendar would affect sports.

2 Please remember that respondents could select multiple roles.

47%56%

45%36%

46%34%

56%

53%44%

55%64%

54%66%

44%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Communitymember

District-basedemployee

Parent ofcurrent MPS

student

Parent of non-MPS student

School-basedemployee

Student Other

Calendar support by role

Support Do not support

CALENDAR SURVEY 6

Respondents were also able to write any additional comments, questions, or concerns that they had

with the one-calendar proposal. A total of 9,269 comments were received, and responses were coded

into key themes3.

Overall 81% of comments were grouped into themes. The remaining un-grouped (“Miscellaneous”) comments were either off-topic (e.g., “I want better paid maternity leave,” or “We need better lunches”) or did not add to understanding the topics at hand (e.g., “I do not support this,” or “NO!”) 4. Comments could be grouped into multiple themes. For instance, comments about health concerns were often related to the hot weather in August, and so were grouped into both themes. Spanish comments were translated using Google Translate to group them appropriately.

The most common theme was summer heat, which was cited in 35% of comments. Examples include:

“I have 2 children in MPS. I dread every September with return to school during hot weather with no a/c.

My children come home sweaty and exhausted and the teachers saying that time is non-productive.”

“My daughter has health issues that will be exaserbated by heat. Air conditioning would be a major issue

that needs to be taken into consideration.”

3 Using Qualtrics (survey software), comments were “tagged” using key words and phrases related to the themes. These comments were then reviewed to remove those that had been erroneously grouped under a theme. For instance, “job” might relate to summer employment, but it could be used in the unrelated comment, “This will impact my job.” Comments which were uncategorized through this method were reviewed individually to group them into appropriate themes, adding categories where necessary. 4 Please see Appendix 2 for the entire list of themes and examples for each.

27%21%

33%

74%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Transportation Sports Enrollment Time off

Most questions concern time off

CALENDAR SURVEY 7

The second most common theme, seen in 10% of the comments, related to summer break or vacation.

“How will this affect already planned vacations for employees?”

“August is the best month of summer, May and June are unpredictable.”

Approximately 4% of comments included themes related to summer programs, summer employment,

uniforms, or the AP/IB program.

Participation in J Term and Summer School

Students were asked how likely they would participate in both J Term and summer school.

Approximately 70% of responding students indicated that they were unlikely to participate in J Term,

and almost 80% indicated that they would be unlikely to participate in summer school.

11%

20% 19%

50%

9%15%

19%

56%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Definitely likely Slightly likely Slightly unlikely Definitely unlikely

Most students unlikely to attend J Term or summer school

J Term Summer School

CALENDAR SURVEY 8

Uniform Policy

Parents were asked if their child’s school currently has a uniform policy. Eighty-five percent of parents

who responded to the survey indicated that their child’s current school does not have a uniform policy.

In terms of the uniform policy, respondents were split as to their support5. While 41% of respondents

indicated that they would support a uniform policy, an additional 38% checked that they did not support

a district-wide uniform policy. Fifteen percent of respondents had no preference, and 6% didn’t know or

were unsure.

5 Please see Appendix 3 for a breakdown of this question by role.

Has uniform policy, 15%

Does not have uniform policy,

85%

Current schools do not have uniform policy

CALENDAR SURVEY 9

41%38%

15%

6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Yes No No preference Don't know

Respondents split on uniform policy

CALENDAR SURVEY 10

Appendix 1: Role

The table below summarizes how respondents selected their role and the number of times those options

were chosen.

Times selected

Community Member 389

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS 49

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate: 6

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student

15

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

3

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student

47

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Other, please indicate:

3

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student

11

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

7

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate:

1

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Student

1

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

22

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Student

1

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, School-based employee of MPS 21

Community Member, District-based employee of MPS, School-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate:

1

Community Member, Other, please indicate: 50

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student 30

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, Other, please indicate: 5

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

32

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student 388

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Other, please indicate:

14

CALENDAR SURVEY 11

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student

45

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, Other, please indicate:

3

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

41

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, Student

1

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

162

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate:

1

Community Member, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Student 7

Community Member, School-based employee of MPS 85

Community Member, School-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate: 6

Community Member, Student 59

Community Member, Student, Other, please indicate: 2

District-based employee of MPS 987

District-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate: 9

District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student 33

District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

2

District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student 139

District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student

10

District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

2

District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

11

District-based employee of MPS, Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Student

1

District-based employee of MPS, School-based employee of MPS 97

District-based employee of MPS, School-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate: 4

District-based employee of MPS, Student 9

Other, please indicate: 242

Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student 194

Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, Other, please indicate: 2

Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS 78

Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Student 2

Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, Student 1

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student 4077

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Other, please indicate: 36

CALENDAR SURVEY 12

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student

82

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS

27

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Student

1

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, Student

5

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student, Student, Other, please indicate:

1

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS 443

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate:

1

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, School-based employee of MPS, Student

2

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student, Student 47

School-based employee of MPS 2444

School-based employee of MPS, Other, please indicate: 20

School-based employee of MPS, Student 5

School-based employee of MPS, Student, Other, please indicate: 7

Student 1224

Student, Other, please indicate: 6

CALENDAR SURVEY 13

Appendix 2: Example comments from each key theme

The table below shows the proportion of comments grouped by theme, starting with the most

frequently mentioned theme at the top.

Theme Number Percent of Total

Summer Heat 3200 34.98%

Miscellaneous 1663 18.18%

Vacation or Summer Break 916 10.01%

Summer Programs 420 4.59%

Summer Job 408 4.46%

Uniforms 380 4.15%

IB or AP 370 4.04%

Rationale for change 343 3.75%

Childcare 333 3.64%

Year Round Calendar 300 3.28%

Time off from school 298 3.26%

Traditional Calendar 245 2.68%

J term 216 2.36%

Inconvenient for other districts 181 1.98%

Teacher or Staff Pay 176 1.92%

Low August Attendance 154 1.68%

Health Concerns 149 1.63%

Short Notice 128 1.40%

Leave MPS 111 1.21%

Save money 109 1.19%

Partner Organizations 94 1.03%

Support One Calendar 91 0.99%

Tourism and State Fair 87 0.95%

PD 59 0.64%

IEP or Special Education 53 0.58%

Sports 44 0.48%

Charter Schools 25 0.27%

Age Requirement Concern 24 0.26%

CALENDAR SURVEY 14

Maintenance and cleaning 23 0.25%

Total 9149 100%

In order to illustrate the breadth of individual comments within each theme, illustrative verbatim comments are provided under each theme.

Summer Heat

“My question is, in August when it is very hot and there is no air conditioning, how will the problem be

solved?”

“In June the buildings have not had a chance to heat up so it is still tolerable to be in school. By August

the temperature in my classroom is over 90 degrees. We had 3 weeks of this hot weather in September

and is was unbearable. I am sure my third floor classroom was ten degrees hotter than the 92 degress

outside. Fans are not helpful, as they blow work and papers off of tables. The only way this would be

feasible is to have air conditioning in the buildings.”

“I have 2 children in MPS. I dread every September with return to school during hot weather with no

a/c. My children come home sweaty and exhausted and the teachers saying that time is non-

productive.”

“My daughter has health issues that will be exaserbated by heat. Air conditioning would be a major

issue that needs to be taken into consideration.”

Vacation or Summer Break

“How will this affect already planned vacations for employees?”

“Wisconsin summer is in july and august. Many families take vacations in August because that is the

warmest time of the year.”

“August is the best month of summer, May and June are unpredictable.”

“Our family takes our summer vacation each year in the third week of August because this is the only

common vacation week for all of us -two parents working full-time and two elementary school-aged

children. By moving to this new calendar for the 2017-2018 school year, our family will be unable to take

a week-long summer vacation without taking the children out of school.”

CALENDAR SURVEY 15

Time Off from School

“Will breaks change... Spring break... Fall break?”

“How does it affect time off”

“Will the semester end at Christmas break?”

“Will students continue to get Thanksgiving week off? (when you take that week off on an IB calendar it

is a little strange, week break 2.5 weeks of school, review, finals)”

Year Round Calendar

“How can we keep the year round schedule?”

“why not change to year round”

Rationale for Change

“What are the documented benefits for this change?”

“What research has been done to show this is best practice for our students.”

“How will this benefit elementary students?”

Summer Programs

“How will summer programming be adjusted?”

“A change proposed this late in the game significantly and negatively impacts my organizations ability to

provide summer programming to MPS students (budgeted and planned programming would be cut

based on the early start date). Why is this proposal being moved forward so late in the year? Can this be

put off 1 calendar year to allow summer program providers an opportunity to also plan accordingly to

best support development?”

“Does not line up with summer camps or programs that start in June. Leave a childcare headache for

parents.”

“There are many camps / activities / vacations, etc already planned for August 2017. This would disrupt

many summer plans, for many people. What is MPS proposing these families do?”

CALENDAR SURVEY 16

IB or AP

“I think it is ridiculous to change the calendar to accommodate the IB schedule. Keep one for them and

traditional for the rest!”

“Why don't they have the high schools have the IB calendar and have elementary and middle school on

a traditional calendar?”

“How does the change improve learning for all students (not just AP students)”

Uniforms

“What if the parent can't afford to buy the uniform? How would they go about it?”

“I am not in favor of uniforms”

“Our school has uniforms now and it cost too much to buy clothes for every day of the week for school

and everyday of the week for home. I dont want my child in the same clothes daily. She said kids wear

the same clothes and how does that help tgeir wellbeing? Kids clothes are not washed and the uniforms

smell.”

Childcare

“Not unless/until other school districts follow because I'm also a teacher and would need childcare.”

“child care for summer not offered until June”

“Has MPS made plans with community partners to offer activities for children based on the potential

calendar changes? (This impacts their staffing and child care options that will be available to parents.)”

“As a parent who's a teacher in a different district, I would not want my kids on a different calendar than

I am on for childcare reasons.”

Teacher or Staff Pay

“additional cost to pay teachers for J term”

“Wondering how the teachers will be compensated the first transition year as their summer will be

shortened.”

“How does this affect the pay schedule for school employees?”

CALENDAR SURVEY 17

Traditional Calendar

“It would be great to have one calendar although I would be in support of the traditional calendar for

all”

“I think it is ridiculous to change the calendar to accommodate the IB schedule. Keep one for them and

traditional for the rest!”

“My child care is based on a more traditional calendar. I would have no one to watch my kids at the end

of may”

Health Concerns

“Too hot in August for students to focus and be safe (health concerns)”

“Very hot in August, schools are not properly ventilated or air conditioned. Poses a health risk to kids

who have respiratory problems.”

J-Term

“If this is supposed to be saving the district money, where will funds come from to pay for the J term?”

“Will transportaion be offered during J-term & summer school?”

“I assume (but in this post-act-10-world, I can no longer assume) that teachers who participate in J-term

will get paid for their extra time. Is this a correct assumption?”

“What if any programming will be offered to 1st-5th graders during the j-term?”

Inconvenient for Other Districts

“This would be very inconvient for staff members that have children in districts outside of mps.”

“I have other children in other school districts. The calendar change would make my MPS student way

out of alignment with my other kids.”

“I am concerned about how this will impact in-coming students and out going students (to and from

outside districts)?”

CALENDAR SURVEY 18

Short Notice

“A change proposed this late in the game significantly and negatively impacts my organizations ability to

provide summer programming to MPS students (budgeted and planned programming would be cut

based on the early start date). Why is this proposal being moved forward so late in the year? Can this be

put off 1 calendar year to allow summer program providers an opportunity to also plan accordingly to

best support development?”

“a start for the 2018-2019 would allow families to prepare for the calendar change”

“I like the idea. However, we deserve more time. It should be for 2017-18 school year. Some summer

plans are already made.”

Low August Attendance

“Classroom temperatures--too hot. Summer is still in full swing. Attendance will take a hit.”

“The buildings are too hot for August for full school attendance. I have a kindergarter and I am

concerned about the heat, sunburn and generally ineffective learning due to the hot humid

environment.”

“We already have a planned family vacation in the month of August. I don't want my children to have

poor attendance, but I don't want to lose the money I already paid for our vacation.”

Leave MPS

“Should the calendar year change to beginning in August + ending in May; then I will have to remove my

child from MPS and place her in a different school district.”

“This will solidify our decision on whether to remain in MPS. We will leave. This is a terrible idea and

doesn't match up with any other districts in the area. It's been hard to stick it out despite low budgets

and insane class sizes. I'm trying to support city public schools. But this is a deal breaker.”

Save Money

“If this is supposed to be saving the district money, where will funds come from to pay for the J term?”

“Please explain how where the cost savings money will go to?”

“How does this change affect the MPS budget?”

CALENDAR SURVEY 19

Support One Calendar

“I support if there is proper air condition in school.”

“I completely support one calendar in MPS! However, I would like to see the year around calendar

used.”

“I support moving to one calendar for the entire district.”

IEP or Special Education

“Until you get working air in all buildings and buses it shouldnt be done. Its to hot. There 1,000s of

special needs kids and i can imagine how the heat will effect them.”

“How will special needs be met during the J term?”

Sports

“How will this affect sports when they play against other districts?”

“Impact on sports not offered by MPS (affects schedule)”

PD

“When will school based employees start back (with professional development, etc)”

“How does this affect school staff's ability ot obtain Professional Development?”

“When would the teacher professional development days occur?”

Partner Organizations

“How will the new calendar year effect partner program start/end times?”

“Has MPS made plans with community partners to offer activities for children based on the potential

calendar changes? (This impacts their staffing and child care options that will be available to parents.)”

Maintenance and Cleaning

“How will the classrooms get cleaned in this short turn around?”

“transition summer will have a shortened summer which will impact construction. Some projects may

need to be postponed.”

CALENDAR SURVEY 20

Age Requirement Concerns

“Right now the age requirements for K4 are the children have to be four years old by September 1st.

How would this be adjusted for an early start date?”

“Will age cut off for starting school change”

Charter Schools

“Will any of the proposed changes affect students enrolled within a Charter School?”

Miscellaneous

“Would they serve better lunches”

“Not for sure yet?”

“Already is a 16-year-old law that mandates state public schools cannot start their school year before

Sept. 1.”

“I would like to be asked my permission for my kids to participate in senstive activities (i.e.: having my

children vote this electoral year).”

“ABSOLUTELY A NO FOR STARTING IN AUGUST~!”

“Why make everyone the same?”

“Let's be clear...these are not listening sessions. I was at the last one. I left more frustrated than when I

walked in.”

“Students tested too much in Kindergarten.”

CALENDAR SURVEY 21

Appendix 3: Do you support a district-wide uniform policy?, by role

Yes No

No preference

Don’t know/Unsure

Community member 39% 37% 17% 8%

District-based employee of MPS 49% 25% 19% 6%

Parent/Guardian of potential/current MPS student

38% 42% 14% 6%

Parent/Guardian of non-MPS student

45% 30% 18% 8%

School-based employee of MPS 49% 29% 18% 5%

Student 16% 73% 6% 5%

Other 50% 30% 13% 7%