The school board voted on Nov. 10 to approve a new instructional calendar for the next two years. The option they selected will have first semester finals before winter break.

Out of four options, the Association of Piedmont Teachers (APT) selected Calendar C, which was then approved by the school board. Calendar C places finals before winter break by compressing first semester so the year ends a week earlier in the spring than it does now and shortens Thanksgiving break by two days.

Much of the discussion and debate around the instructional calendars concerned student stress, especially in terms of ending finals before winter break, said social studies teacher and APT president Gabrielle Kashani.

“Some kids that are behind use the break to catch up and rejuvenate for finals, and others feel that the break should be a true break,” Kashani said. “Both views take a look at student stress, but they have different opinions on what really will address student stress.”

APT selected this calendar during runoff voting, which ending on Nov. 6. Calendar D was another option. Calendar D, similar to the selected calendar, would also move the timing of finals. However, finals would still be in January. By compressing the second semester, the school year would begin later than it does now, closer to Labor Day. Calendar D would eliminate February break and replace it with a four day weekend around Presidents’ Day.

“I am excited because it has been so many years of doing the same thing and complaining about the same issues to try to make some change to mitigate that,” said Calendar Committee Chair and social studies teacher Alli Cota. “It will be interesting to see how we feel doing it — how students feel and teachers feel — to actually see if it is a positive change.”

In Calendar C, although the semesters are compressed in span, the instructional days are relatively even with each semester. The first semester of Calendar C has 88 days, while the second has 92 days. Furthermore, many feel that the four day difference will be mitigated due to standardized testing in the spring, Cota said. The purpose of the Calendar Committee was to create the four calendar options.

Sophomore Maya Guzdar thinks that losing two days of Thanksgiving break, as in Calendar C, is worth having finals before winter break.

“I know people will fight against this, but what people should realize is that it is two days for two weeks of studying,” Guzdar said.

The other two calendars were eliminated before the runoff voting. Calendar A is identical to the instructional calendar that PUSD has had for the past two years. Calendar B takes the normal calendar and moves it up a week, ending finals before winter break and starting a week earlier in the summer.

“Calendar C is a little more like a college schedule,” Kashani said. “Is that appropriate for high school? I don’t know, but that [is one of] the biggest controversies.”

In a PUSD survey completed on Oct. 6, 78 percent of middle and high school students supported moving finals before the break as their “strongest preference for the timing of first semester finals.” Sixty three percent of parents also expressed this.

“Having finals after winter break is basically getting rid of two weeks because we are stressing the whole time,” Guzdar said. “So yes, there will be downsides, but the end will definitely justify the means in this case.”

One of the controversies regarding earlier finals is the prospect of uneven semesters: 55 percent of students and 62 percent of parents expressed strong agreement or disagreement regarding unequal semesters, and 50 percent of students and 37 percent of parents expressed a similar split towards starting the school year earlier, according to a 2015 calendar survey by PUSD.

Both Calendar C and Calendar D have one semester compressed, which allows the option for Flex professional development, which gives teachers to have training that is more specific to their subject and level of each teacher.

“For teachers who either teach the same subject or at the same level to be able to organize professional development aimed at what they need most, as opposed to more of a one-size-fits-all, as it was before,” Cota said. “I don’t know what it will look or feel like, but I am excited at the possibilities of meeting the needs of teachers.”

As per procedure, APT votes on four options every time they vote for an instructional calendar, which is once every two years. If no option receives more than 50 percent of the vote, there is then a runoff vote, as there was this year.

In the original voting rounds, the two high schools voted predominantly for Calendar C, and two of the three elementary schools went for Calendar D, Kashani said. The third elementary school voted mainly for Calendar C and the middle school was split between Calendars C and D.

“I do think that if you do solve one problem you are potentially creating another problem,” Kashani said. “The condensed semesters may be stressful for students, but finals end early.”