DISTRICT SHAPING VACATION BREAKS ALL STUDENTS WOULD BE OFF AT SAME TIME.

Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The Palmdale School District plans to start its new school year in August and lengthen winter and spring breaks to accommodate vacation practices of Latino families.

Winter break will be three weeks and spring break two weeks because so many Palmdale families travel to see relatives outside the United States and don't return until after classes have resumed, district spokesman Isaac Barcelona said.

``The two major holidays in the Hispanic culture are Christmas and Easter,''Barcelona said. ``The week of Easter is Holy Week. Hispanic families are always leaving to visit their families.''

The district will also extend Thanksgiving vacation to a full week because 40 percent of students are absent the day before Thanksgiving, Barcelona said.

The new schedule means that families can count on all their children being in school and out of school at the same time, rather than some being on different schedules, Barcelona said.

The district loses substantial state funding based on attendance because many students are absent during the week following winter and spring breaks, Barcelona said.

The district mailed letters this week notifying parents of the possible schedule changes, though they noted that the new schedule is subject to revisions.

This school year is scheduled to end June 30. Next school year is expected to begin Aug. 18.

Pupils will get vacation Nov. 24-28 for Thanksgiving; Dec. 22-Jan. 9; and April 5-16. Veterans Day would also become a two-day holiday: Nov. 10-11. The last day of school would be June 17, 2004.

The proposed schedule change will coincide with the district's return to a traditional school year in which all students have the same long summer vacation. The present ``three-track'' schedule has several shorter breaks that put pupils in and out of school at different times.

The proposed new schedule, however, is already drawing complaints.

Deborah Herrera, who is the mother of a Cactus student and the wife of a Desert Rose resource teacher, says she feels ``conned'' by the proposed schedule.

``I won't be taking time off to visit my relatives,'' she said, saying her husband faces a $14,000 pay cut because he will teaching fewer days under the traditional schedule. ``This isn't what we were told.''

Palmdale's proposed schedule doesn't match the traditional schedule of Antelope Valley Union High School District, said Herrera, a high school teacher.

``They're talking about saving costs, but coming back in the middle of summer - how does that save costs?''

For his part, Barcelona said that community input will be taken into consideration when the district's calendar committee votes on the schedule.

In addition, he said, the high school holidays often do not match the elementary school holidays. Last year, the high school district gave students the week following Easter off while the Palmdale District gave students the week before off, he said.

The schedule change accompanied a board vote last week to increase class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, aimed at paring $6.1 million from the district's budget to make up for severe state cuts in education spending.

However, Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association leaders said they would seek a court injunction to block the district from increasing class sizes. If the injunction is granted, the district would be forced to continue following its year-round, three-track schedule, Barcelona said.