Families with kids enrolled in Butler School District schools are being asked to weigh in on next year’s school calendar.

As the school board discussed in a recent board meeting, the district has posted three sample school year schedules on its website. The survey can be found by visiting www.basdk12.org/news and looking for “Community Calendar Survey.”

“We’re wanting to get a sense of what our community members really value in a calendar,” Superintendent Brian White said at the board meeting Sept. 10.

The three calendars are only slightly different, with variations in things like lengths of breaks and start and end times for the academic year. State law requires 180 days of instruction in public Pennsylvania schools.

All three sample schedules are based off the 2018-19 school year.

The first of three has school starting on Aug. 28 and ending on June 5. Christmas break would last from Dec. 23 through Jan. 1, spring break would last from April 9 through April 14 and Thanksgiving break from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

The second has school starting on Sept. 3 and ending on June 5. Christmas break would last from Dec. 23 through Jan. 1, spring break would be April 9 and 10, and Thanksgiving break would run Nov. 28 to Dec. 2.

The third has school starting on Sept. 3 and ending on June 5. Christmas break would last from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3, spring break would last from April 9 through April 14 and Thanksgiving break from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

This school year, classes began on Aug. 28 and will end on June 5. Students are getting six weekdays off for Christmas break, four for Thanksgiving break and four for spring break.

Some may be uninspired by the subtle changes being floated. Allie Thomas and Emma Monteleone, both 16-year-old 11th graders, aren’t particularly interested.

“I like how it is now,” Allie said.

“I like how it is now, too,” Emma agreed.

Brady, Allie’s younger brother, put it harsher.

“I don’t care,” he said.

Maria Thomas, Allie and Brady’s mother, also liked the current schedule.

“I’m happy with the way it is now,” Thomas said. “They already get a decent amount off for Christmas.”

But, White explained to the board, not everyone is so easily satisfied. He noted some particular perceived interest in starting after Labor Day. But, he said, they wanted to gather data to know whether that was a real majority opinion.

“If I walk into a football game, I hear ‘We should start after Labor Day,’” White said. “Or ‘We need a longer break for Christmas,’ or ‘I want a longer break for Easter’ or ‘We need to end after June.’”

The survey has been open for about a week and will close Sunday evening.