The Portage Township School Board continues to seek to delay the start of the school year to extend summer.
Complicating the decision is coordinating with other Porter County school districts and the colleges and universities that offer dual credit programs at Portage High School.
“We live in a tourist area,” School Board President Andy Maletta said, with kids working at Indiana Dunes National Park, Deep River Waterpark and other venues. “A lot of our kids have those summer jobs.”
“It hurts the park department because they hire a lot of those students,” he added.
When the lifeguards go back to school, beaches close for swimming.
A few years ago, Maletta said, Indiana Dunes Tourism sent a letter thanking Portage for putting back the start of school, saying Portage students would get preference for summer jobs so beaches could remain open longer.
“We wanted to push it back further, and we got an extra week out of it,” Maletta said.
“It’s the single most thing I hear from my constituents,” including complaints about heat in gyms without air conditioning in some schools, he said. “I can’t believe that only Portage people complain about this.”
Superintendent Amanda Alaniz presented a draft of the 2025-26 school calendar to the board on Monday to begin discussing it.
“I’m anxious to look through the different drafts,” Maletta said.
Assistant superintendents throughout Porter County are collaborating on school calendars and looking for feedback on how shared services like career and technical education and special education programs are affected. Those programs often send students outside their home district to attend special classes elsewhere.
“It’s unfortunate Valparaiso, Duneland don’t want to cooperate” in extending summer, Maletta said. “We’re the largest school district in the county. We’re the largest city in the county.”
“I just think it’s best for our community, it’s best for our kids, and it’s what our parents are asking,” he said.
The first draft of the school calendar would set Wednesday, Aug. 13 as the first day of school for students. Teachers would report on Aug. 11 for two days of prep time and meetings.
One option might be to have teachers start on a Thursday and Friday and have students not start until the following Monday, Alaniz said. But five straight days of kindergarten could be exhausting for the new students.
A couple of years ago, Portage pushed for a two-week delay as the county’s school calendars were creeping closer to the start of August. Portage won a compromise for a one-week delay, Alaniz said.
“What would it take to bring those districts together to the table to discuss this?” asked board Vice President Wilma Vazquez.
Alaniz said the argument for starting the school year earlier is the need to get grade reports for dual credit classes done by January to align with the calendar set by colleges and universities, which end their grading periods at the end of the year.
Portage needs to factor in certifications and dual credits by collaborating with area colleges and universities to get in the same mindset, board member Shaunna Finley said.
“I know there are some Lake County schools that start later. Maybe we should talk with them to make that work,” Maletta said.
“Let’s look ahead to maybe one school year out. We need to lead those discussions.”
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
