Save Our Summer!

Camp Longhorn Families - We need your help!

Just when you thought that Covid-19 would be our biggest obstacle this summer, the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, Mike Morath, has added another challenge.

It has come to the attention of the youth camping family that Commissioner Morath, has started putting pressure, by conference call, on the state’s 1,035 school superintendents to shorten this summer and move to an intercessional school calendar. He’s capitalizing on the Coronavirus pandemic to inject a disastrous year-round approach to correcting Texas’ academic program. His plan reopens schools August 1st and goes through June 15th of next year (which will impact us immensely!). He intends to do this with a one-month Christmas holiday. His full plan eventually eliminates summer camp scheduling as we know it today.

Many school districts are now considering this intercessional plan for the coming school year. School calendars are set by each individual school district and fortunately a few, like Burnet and Temple ISD, have already rejected the Commissioner’s intercessional calendar and are sticking with the traditional calendar which allows for a summer break. Many school districts are also opting to use online learning and increased minutes to the school day to allow for more instruction, instead of encroaching on the summer.

Youth Camps love and appreciate the schools and consider themselves Jr Partners in the big picture of education, ready to compromise and support a uniform school year.

We need your help. We’re writing to ask you to reach out to your local public school superintendent and school board members to make certain they know your desire to stick with a traditional school calendar. Summer camps and other traditional Texas recreation businesses count on summer and have for over 90 years. We need your help defending your son or daughter’s summer.

A sample letter:

Superintendent/School Board Member/Principal__________________:

It has come to my family’s attention that the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, Mike Morath, has recently proposed recommendations for a new academic calendar that would alter the dates for summer break. In light of the recent announcement, I would like to speak on the behalf of my child(ren) ______________________. Summer is an important time in my child’s development and altering the school calendar to decrease the summer is not acceptable for him/her or my family.

We understand that many Texas school districts are now opting to use online learning and increased minutes to the school day to allow for more instruction, instead of adding days and encroaching on the summer. We believe these to be better solutions to address expanded learning opportunities.

Please do not rearrange the school calendar and cut into the summer break. My preference is to continue to start school after the 4th Monday in August which allows school to end by the first of June.

Sincerely,

Your name
Your Contact information

In addition, if you receive any feedback from your school district on this matter please let us know. We are working diligently on this issue and need information about calendar considerations for each school district across the state.

Thank you for your support,
Camp Longhorn Family