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Show Jjg ... IEdlmKEcmitnciDim School board OKs grant application, changes graduation requirements by JIM SMEDLEY Record staff writer The Park City Board of Education Tuesday night gave the Calendar for the Future Committee the green light to apply for funds from the state to experiment with a two-year pilot program on year-round schools. The deadline for applying for the funding is Dec. 20. The state funds could bolster the program by as much as $50,000, although educators doubted the state would fund the program pro-gram with the full amount. The committee's proposal originally included students in first through sixth grades. But when Val Chin reported that she was ap-proached ap-proached by parents of kindergarteners who wanted their children to participate in the program, pro-gram, the board decided to include the youngsters in the plan. Chin is co-chairman of the year-round year-round committee and a member of the Community Council at Parley's Park Elementary School. The board also approved a change in graduation requirements at Park City High School, took under consideration con-sideration a proposal for a new runn ing track at the high school, granted a Park City Ski Team request to allow two. students living outside of the district to attend school here and commissioned a study analyzing how much the school district would save by installing cogeneration in its three schools. Also approved was a sales contract con-tract with the Park City Council on the purchase of the Carl Winters Middle School and agreed to extend the life of the Redevelopment Agency. Agen-cy. (See page A-5 for details) The Calendar for the Future Committee's Com-mittee's proposal adopts a year-round year-round calendar for approximately 20 percent of the kindergarten through sixth-grade students on a two-year trial basis. Students and staff involved involv-ed in the plan would hold classes in currently available space at the Treasure Mountain Middle School, which would constitute an autonomous school within a school. Students would attend school for 60 days then have 20 days off. This calendar provides 180 student days and 185 teacher contract days. Advantages of year-round school cited by the committe included: more continuous learning for the students; increased retention; improved im-proved morale due to more frequent breaks; and time for a variety of remedial and enrichment classes during intersessions. Two of the main disadvantages of the program would be that it could cause inconveniences to the personal per-sonal schedules of some families and instructors would be unable to pursue pur-sue further education during the summer. The students and staff for the school would be chosen from volunteers. Two weeks after registration, family names would be drawn randomly until all class slots were filled. Board member Ed Axtell asked what the program would cost the district and wondered if any budget projections had been done. Don Johnson, co-chairman of the committee, said he felt the teacher costs would be basically the same and that he hoped many of the startup star-tup costs would be defrayed by the State Office of Education grant. He added that since the experimental class was so small (about 120 students) it would be unlikely that the state would fund the full $50,000 allowed. Changes to graduation requirements re-quirements at the high school were also approved by the board. In order to comply with State Board of Education requirements, one-half unit of computer literacy, one-half unit of fine arts and a full unit of vocational education were added. Dropped from the requirements were one-half unit of physical education educa-tion and health, one-half unit of com-, com-, munitywork services and a full unit ofelectives. The board also approved a $1,100 expenditure for a study of the effect cogeneration would have on the three schools in the district. The board is considering using natural gas in a system to produce electricity. E. James Bradley, an energy consultant, con-sultant, was commissioned by the , board to do the study. He estimated that the school district could save , from $17,000 to $21,000 per year at "' the elementary school, from $40,000 ', to $45,000 at the middle school and : , from $24,000 to $27,000 at the high school with the installation of.V , cogeneration systems. The estimated payback time for. the project is 48 months. V ' i:"ji',': |