Q: Should school breaks be included in parenting time schedules?

A: Many parents include the school breaks in their holiday schedule. School breaks and release days may be different from school to school and district to district. Each school determines its calendar. The calendar is published on the school’s website before each school year starts.

It is important for parents to decide:

• whether to combine a holiday that falls within a school break and, if so, how. For example, parents may agree “the parent who has Spring Break will also have the Easter holiday if it falls during Spring Break.”

• the start and end days and times for their school break parenting time. For example, if a child is out of school Monday through Friday, parents will need to decide whether to include one or both weekends on either side of those days.

• whether they will follow the regular parenting time schedule during school breaks. whether they will alternate the whole school break from year to year or divide the breaks between them each year.