" My recommendation for the future school calendar is to go back to the 2 week Christmas break. The reason for switching to the 3 week break is well known, and it obviously hasn't served it's intended purpose. For those who don't know, what was happening in the past was some parents were having their kids miss a week or more of school so they could travel over the holidays. When kids miss school the district misses out on funding. So the district decided to simply add a week to the break. Well, rather than just use the extra week off for their travels, the travelling parents are now taking their kids out at Thanksgiving, and still returning late. Conversly, for all the parents who keep their kids in school, this extra week of winter break requires extra daycare expenses at a time of year when many parents are already working a tight budget. The question is, who should be catered to? The parents who keep their kids in school? Or the parents who want to take their kids out of the country over the holidays? "