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Delayed start to RFSD school year is official

Staff report

A revised 2017-18 school year calendar for Roaring Fork Schools in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt that includes a delayed start to the year has been given final approval by the school board.

The main change is a two-week delayed start to the year after Labor Day weekend, on Sept. 5. The delay is intended to help reduce the adverse impacts on students and staff from both the Grand Avenue bridge closure and detour that begins Aug. 14, and major construction on school facilities throughout the district. The calendar change is intended to be a one-year amendment, and the district expects to return to the normal calendar schedule the following year.

“There will be significant transportation impacts to everyone driving through and around Glenwood Springs during the (bridge) closure, which will last at least 95 days,” the school district notes in a news release.



The Colorado Department of Transportation requested that the district delay the start of school in order to allow more time for commuters to adjust to the closure before school traffic picks up. The delayed start also gives the schools more time to study the traffic impacts and adapt its transportation plans accordingly, the release said.

Based on recent surveys, the school district counted 175 staff members and 650 students who cross the Grand Avenue bridge every day.



“Delaying school-related traffic, even for two weeks, will significantly benefit all drivers on the road as they transition to the closure traffic,” the district said.

In addition to the detour and ongoing bridge construction, the school district will be completing significant construction of its own in August, including the new Riverview School and the new addition at Glenwood Springs Elementary School, as well as projects in Basalt.

“Facilities construction is scheduled to be completed in late August, but two extra weeks will ensure that schools are ready for students,” the district said in its release.

The revised school calendar also includes a slightly later end to the school year, on June 8, 2018, and changes to some of the midyear school breaks.


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