By Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer Published Jan 18, 2018 at 11:26 AM

Milwaukee Public Administration had been talking for a while now about standardizing the school year calendars for all its 150-plus schools, beginning with the 2018-19 school year. The plan would have all schools starting in mid-August and ending in mid-May.

Currently elementary schools start at the beginning of September and run through mid-June. All MPS high schools (and schools that include high school programs, like MacDowell Montessori and Golda Meir) moved to the early start calendar last August.

The plan was expected to be discussed at the district's Committee on Strategic Planning and Budget next week. But, today, Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver, in a video posted on the district website, said that the idea has been dropped for the coming year, based on feedback from families.

"The plan," Dr. Driver said, "started as an idea that would help improve student success, provide more opportunities for growth and be more financially responsible."

Driver added that administration is now proposing two calendars – a September start calendar for elementary schools and a mid-August start date for secondary schools. This is basically how the current school year started.

Driver also announced a series of upcoming community meetings around the city.

Here is the video:

Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.

He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.

With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.

He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.

In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.

He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.