It’s the community’s turn to chime in on Sumner Elementary School.

Austin Public School officials will hold community meetings on Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. and Feb. 10 at noon to inform residents why Sumner staff is considering switching over to an alternative school calendar, or a 45/15 schedule.

A 45/15 schedule means students would attend school for 45 school days, or about nine weeks, and then go on break for about 15 school days, or about three weeks. Students would have the same amount of vacation days as other Austin kids, including a shorter summer vacation. Sumner would have to start school earlier than other schools while ending the school year when the rest of the district does. This is to make sure moving students through the district goes smoothly, according to Sumner Principal Sheila Berger.

The meetings are, in part, to inform the community of the staff’s proposal. At the same time, district officials are fulfilling a state-mandated requirement that any district looking to start school before Labor Day must hold three public meetings to get community feedback, according to John Alberts, the district’s director of educational services.

“It’s going to be that same information generally, but it’s available now to the community,” Alberts said.

The results of a survey given to Sumner parents are still coming in, but thus far Sumner parents seem to have a generally positive view on the proposed switch, which district officials say would benefit students’ lesson retention and as a result boost state comprehensive testing scores. For several years, Sumner has failed to make overall adequate yearly progress on Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment exams.

The switch wouldn’t be possible without an upcoming air conditioning renovation, which was scheduled to happen this summer before Sumner staff came up with their proposal. In January, the district school board approved a contract for the project, which will cost about $2 million. The project came in under budget as district officials previously allotted $2.4 million. In order for school to start in August, a proper air conditioning system has to be in place, district officials have previously said.

Berger said the response she received from January’s parent meeting on the switch was “overwhelmingly positive.” The meeting ran almost two hours, after some parents stayed behind to discuss their concerns with John Alberts, the district’s educational director, David Krenz, district superintendent, Berger and other Sumner staff.

Some parents had concerns the district couldn’t answer right away, such as how daycare would work, how having children on different schedules would work, whether excused absences would remain the same and whether students in Sumner would still go on district-wide field trips. While some policies will remain the same, such as excused absences and field trips, district officials could only provide anecdotal evidence on how parents in other schools with a 45/15 schedule dealt with child care and family schedules.

“Obviously because we’re the first school (in the district) to propose this, there’s just some unknowns that we’re going to have to figure out as we go,” Berger said earlier.