Minnetonka schools recommend observing Lunar New Year as holiday
The Minnetonka School Board's calendar committee voted 16-11 on March 18 to recommend making Chinese Lunar New Year a non-school day for the 2027-28 school year, citing the cultural significance of the holiday for students in the district's immersion programs.
The recommendation came after the calendar committee, which includes 27 diverse stakeholders, debated the proposal during their review of the 2027-28 school calendar. Student representative Sierra Lindamman spoke in favor, noting that students who observe the holiday currently struggle to complete homework after late-night family celebrations because school is still in session. "They just don't have enough time to do their homework and catch up on school work that evening," she said.
However, the vote revealed significant concerns among committee and board members. Eleven committee members opposed the recommendation, worried that adding the holiday would lengthen the school year, potentially extending it further into June. Some also expressed concern about setting a precedent that could lead to requests for other cultural observances to be recognized as school holidays.
The calendar committee, led by Angie Flowers, faced additional challenges in planning the 2027-28 calendar due to Labor Day falling unusually late on September 7th. The proposed calendar includes workshop days starting August 23rd, with students beginning August 30th (kindergarten on September 1st), a three-day Thanksgiving break, and spring break in March.
Separately, the board received an informational update on the district's K-12 Chinese Mandarin and Spanish immersion programs, which are undergoing a comprehensive two-year curriculum review. Superintendent Law noted that Minnetonka's immersion programs are rare in Minnesota, with most districts lacking such offerings. The review focuses on aligning curriculum with state literacy standards, adapting materials for both languages, and enhancing assessment practices. Teachers have been evaluating resources like Benchmark Advance for Spanish literacy to ensure they teach languages "explicitly, systematic, cumulatively," according to presenter Alyssa Rutherford. The district is also collaborating with other Minnesota districts, including North St. Paul and St. Cloud, on immersion program development.
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Votes (2)
Immersion Curriculum Review Update
Dissent: N/A
Moved by N/A · Seconded by N/A
Dr. Loo, Elida Kaine, and Alyssa Rutherford presented an update on the K-12 immersion curriculum review. They outlined the unique program structure in Minnetonka, which includes both Chinese Mandarin and Spanish immersion across all elementary buildings, middle schools, and high schools. The review focused on aligning with state standards, integrating Read Act training for teachers, adapting content materials, and enhancing language arts instruction with explicit, systematic, and cumulative approaches tailored to each language (e.g., Chinese character recognition, Spanish word study). Assessment practices, including FastBridge and Integrated Performance Assessments, were also discussed.
2027-28 School Calendar Review and Recommendation
Dissent: Some committee members and board members expressed concerns about lengthening the school year, setting a precedent for other cultural observances, and the impact of frequent days off on families. Specific mention of worries that it could lead to the school year extending much later into June.
Moved by Calendar Committee (Majority Vote) · Seconded by N/A (Committee's internal vote to recommend)
Angie Flowers presented the calendar committee's initial recommendations for the 2027-28 school year. The committee, comprising diverse stakeholders, deliberated on various parameters, including the late Labor Day (September 7th), state statutes for pre-Labor Day start, and contractual obligations for student and teacher days. A central point of discussion and committee vote was the proposal to observe Chinese/Lunar New Year as a non-school day, given its cultural significance, especially for the district's immersion community. Other proposed items included workshop days starting August 23rd, students starting August 30th (kindergarten September 1st), a three-day Thanksgiving break, and a spring break in March.
Notable Quotes (6)
It's noteworthy that most Minnesota school districts don't have this programming. So guidance is significantly less for our teaching and learning team and we've actually been playing a lead role in supporting the state as they guide immersion programs.
And as you know, reading is a complex skill made up of several subs skills. add writing in there and there's really a lot to consider when you're designing programming that supports biiteracy um especially when it starts initially in a language that's probably o other than what the students speak at home.
So, our teachers looked at the Spanish side, made sure, okay, is this actually teaching Spanish uh in an evidence-based way, explicitly, systematic, cumulatively, and their word study side of things is where they kind of, you know, we wanted to make sure that was really strong because we knew that was a need.
The 2026 27 calendar along with the 202728 calendar both prove to be a bit more challenging. Um, back to the comments that Superintendent Law just said, just with Labor Day coming so late in the year, this for 2728, it'll be September 7th.
This year, there was an official recommendation to bring that back and we took a vote on it because there were varying opinions. We have 27 members on the calendar committee and 16 people voted in favor to move it forward to observe Chinese Lunar New Year.
I know a bunch of students who um observe this holiday. And I know that um not like complaining, but they've definitely raised a lot of concern uh for like the late night that it goes into because they do not take the day off of school. So, they are celebrating with their families later into the evening. Um, so they just don't have enough time to do their homework and catch up on school work that evening.
Ordinances & Resolutions (13)
Minnesota state legislation requiring professional learning in evidence-based literacy practices.
Curricular resource for K-5 science, adapted for immersion programs.
Curricular resource, adapted for immersion programs.
Current social studies curriculum used in the district.
Current mathematics curriculum used in the district.
Spanish literacy resource being analyzed and piloted for K-5.
Assessment tool used for K-5 Spanish immersion students to screen and monitor progress.
Assessment tool used for 4-12 students not yet at grade level.
Minnetonka-created assessments measuring K-12 language skills.
Standardized test for students to earn the bilingual seal.
Standardized test for Chinese language proficiency.
School calendar already set, mentioned for context in future planning.
School calendar under review at the study session.
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2027-28 School Calendar Review and Recommendation
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