Two school calendars will be up for a vote on the Bismarck Public School Web site.

Four calendars created by the district's calendar committee were presented at the Bismarck School Board meeting Monday. Two options, both of which start in August, were selected. The other two calendars had September start dates.

A recent parent survey showed 60 percent of parents favored ending by Memorial Day. The surveys were given at parent-teacher conferences and half of the parents responded. The board opted to follow the survey results, and put up for comment two calendars that end by Memorial Day.

"In light of the survey, I'm not interested in pursuing a calendar after Memorial Day," board member Dan Kuntz said.

The two options that remain are a start date of Aug. 27, which is a Thursday, or Aug. 31, which is a Monday. The calendar that starts on Aug. 27 ends by May 27 and the Aug. 31 start date ends May 28. Graduation would be May 30, which is Memorial Day weekend, for both options.

The school calendar has 186 teacher contract days. Students must be in the classroom for 173 days. There are seven required holidays during the school year, plus six teacher training days, two days off to compensate for overtime from parent teacher conferences and two days required off at the North Dakota Educators Association conference.

The only days that are taken off, but not required, are Martin Luther King Day, the day after Thanksgiving and the days between Christmas Day and New Year's Day, which comprise winter break.

"We have always taken Martin Luther King day off since it was designated a holiday," Superintendent Paul Johnson said. "Our Native American community was involved in getting that day established by the state."

If the other days off were made school days, the calendar committee felt parents would not support that change. Members of the calendar committee include two parents, teachers from elementary school, middle school and high school; school administrators and testing specialists. It is led by the district's communications director, Renae Hoffman Walker.

The board also continued discussion on changes to the district's attendance policy so that it is uniformly enforced across the district.

The changes include sending letters out to parents after a student misses five days by the end of the first quarter, 10 days by the end of the second quarter, which is the end of the semester; and after 15 days by the end of the third quarter. Each quarter is nine weeks and two quarters comprises a semester. Students with 10 or more absences could have their family contacted by a social worker and could be considered for child neglect. There are exceptions to the policy for missing days because of school activities, illness or parent permission.

A draft of the policy could be considered for approval at the next board meeting. It would need to be approved a second time before it would become district policy.

The next board meeting is Dec. 8 at 5:15 p.m. in the Tom Baker Meeting Room of the City and County Building.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)