Some Santa Cruz parents say summer is getting shorter and shorter for their kids, seriously cutting down their childhood because school is starting earlier and earlier.
Parents at Santa Cruz and Pajaro Valley school districts are distributing a petition titled, “Bring Back August to SCCS Students”. These parents are concerned that students are losing prime summer vacation time in August, and believe that starting in September is ideal so families can thoroughly enjoy summer break.
For years, the debate over the ideal time for students to start the school year has been a controversial topic nationwide. In Santa Cruz County, SCCS 2025-2026 school starting date is August 7, and PVUSD schools start August 13. These earlier start dates have sparked disagreements amongst some students and families.
Sam Rolens, a spokesman for the Santa Cruz City Schools says the current calendar this in favor of an earlier start date, “addresses more concerns than it creates.” Some of those concerns include giving students enough time to prepare for Advanced Placement or AP tests
Rolens is the chief of communications and community engagement for SCCS. which includes running websites, producing print publications, videos, and communication in general.
Growing Up: Who’s idea was it to start the school year earlier?
SR: The campaign, which was going for a while, was led by students and families primarily, and the primary reasons for this were:
Winter Finals: There was a big push to start the year earlier, especially for secondary students so that they could take their final exams before winter break. If they start school later in September, they have to take their finals after winter break–which students have expressed is stressful. Students expressed that studying during winter break is stressful.
Winter Break: Students desired an earlier school start so that they could go on winter break without worrying about finals. This way, students can be completely free and actually enjoy their break.
AP Testing: This was pushed to the Board of Trustees and head of curriculum by students and parents to have as much instruction as possible before AP testing in May. These tests have a huge impact on college admission and potential to receive college credit so they can take fewer general education classes in college. They did not want instruction during AP exams–this was detrimental. Teaching staff also supported these ideas for students and want to reduce stress on these students.
We have student representative trustees from each high school who sit in on the board and serve as a conduit for student interest. More students reach out to their representatives to advocate for their needs. Student trustees make reports of concerns from their campus.
Nationwide, this earlier start date is being adopted more and more especially to accommodate secondary students.
Growing Up: Who agreed to start the school year earlier? Was this a mutual agreement amongst teachers, parents, and faculty and the board?
SR: Yes, it was a mutual agreement amongst many students, staff, and parents after being brought to the board and the superintendent. Staff and students were able to deliver comments to the board and argue for the new changes and the board approved of these changes.
Growing Up: Will school end earlier in June/May now?
SR: Yes they end at the end of May now.
Growing Up: Have you seen the petition some parents put together in protest of the school year starting earlier? What do you think of their concerns?
SR: Yes, it made the rounds at the start of the school year.
Democratic process is difficult because one side will get what they want and the other side won’t. Any calendar is going to be contentious, any schedule is going to be contentious. We regularly hear both sides of the issue and understand it affects some people positively and some negatively.
We listened to the adamant desires of the students and parents who voiced their concerns and desires for change. We are constantly refining what we’re doing, but this is at least an issue where there’s a significant group of parents for this early start date.
We do read through and discuss these comments. We want a calendar that works best for everyone. We still believe that we have a calendar that addresses more concerns than it creates. But it changed the nature of education and public service.
Growing Up: Parents are concerned that students starting the school year in the hot month of August has a negative impact on them? What are your thoughts?
SR: I grew up in Santa Cruz and anyone in Santa Cruz will tell you that the hottest time of year is the end of September and early October. We have a late summer instead of a traditional summer. June and July tend to be quite cool, and August tends to be a cooler month as well. As we shift into fall, Santa Cruz experiences a bulk of heat.
Regardless of how we move the calendar, the students will experience heat in September/October. HVAC improvements are a top priority for the district. Dealing with the hot time of the year has become a high priority for all of our campuses.
In the next few years, we will be building AC into all indoor spaces. We are now in a time where our years are hotter, so this will have a huge impact on the comfort of the learning conditions of students than the calendar does.
Growing Up: Parents are concerned that this early school start prevents students from enjoying the longest days of the year and limits their opportunities to enjoy traveling and the outdoors programs in the area. What are your thoughts on this?
SR: I do have sympathy for students and families that have summer programs that are impacted by this. They do have the same amount of summer break, just different days. I sympathize with the fact that it is hard to build a summer schedule but I want to remind everyone that students are still getting the same amount of summer vacation.
Growing Up: Do you have plans to reach out to these parents who made this petition?
SR: We personally haven’t heard from these concerned parents. I think a lot more people at the moment are talking to each other on social media versus bringing up the concern with us directly. Based on other student and families requests, we strongly believe that this schedule is working better and will be more beneficial for students’ educational needs. However, we will continue to listen to and care for both sides. We will do our best to accommodate everyone as best we can.
By Joanna Jenkins
