LINDEN &045; The city school board passed a resolution that states the board is opposed to a state specified school year start date and mandatory statewide school calendar.

The resolution came in response to proposed legislation, which would take the decision of school year calendars away from system school boards and place it in the hands of the state government.

The Alabama Association of School Boards has sent out a call to school boards to join together against the proposed statewide calendar. It has asked all school boards that are against the legislation that has yet gone before the state legislature to file a petition against such a move.

The association of school boards sent out a generic petition to the school boards that wished to support their efforts to kill the proposed legislation. The association said that the petition would present representatives with the desires of local school officials.

The board unanimously passed a resolution to send a petition.

In other business, the council:

4received a preliminary draft of the school calendar for the 2007-2008 school year. Board member Eunice Jones expressed concern over the proposed dates for next year’s Christmas break, which moved the majority of the holiday from school until after the holiday.

The preliminary calendar puts the final day of school prior to the break on Dec. 21, four days before Christmas, and students return to school Jan. 8. Jones said she felt most parents would prefer their children out of school prior to Christmas rather than into the new year.

The board accepted the calendar for review.

Members also approved the English and Language arts Text Book Committees for the system and accepted the lowest bid for basic maintenance e-rate connections.

System Superintendent Dr. Walter Davis presented the board with the funding requests for the legislator by the Superintendent’s Association, compared to the funding allocations from last year.