KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Parents are reacting to a new plan for students at Ingels Elementary in the Hickman Mills School District. The school will go to a year-round calendar starting in June.

Parent Mary Dickens says she has a behavioral child that goes there.

“He’s not going to take this too lightly that he doesn’t get a summer vacation… when all the rest of the kids do,” she said in an interview with FOX4 Thursday.

Dickens can file transfer papers to get her son moved to another elementary school. Hickman Mills Superintendent Yaw Obeng would not go on camera with FOX4 Thursday afternoon.

District spokeswoman Lynn Goehring confirmed the year-round calendar for that one elementary will start on June 12 though. Students will go to school for an extra 32 days from June to August.

“School district leadership has been examining strategies to improve academic performance across the district in alignment with out Comprehensive Strategic Improvement Plan (CSIP),” Goehring said.

Dickens appeared frustrated when we talked to her Thursday afternoon.

“My fourth grader, his teacher’s gone at least once a week,” she continued. “So, he’s in a kindergarten class at least once a week.”

Other parents say they were caught off guard by the approval of the change that happened last month.

“I feel that there should have been some type of survey or better communication with us parents to have any type of say,” parent Kayla Contreras said.

“Current kindergarten through fourth grade students will participate in the extended school calendar;” Goehring said. “These students will start in June as first through fifth grade students. Current fifth grade students who are rising to sixth grade will transition to the 6th Grade Center in the fall and start on the district’s regularly scheduled first day of school.”

Contreras admits that this new plan will not cost her money.

“It’s going to cost family time, summer trips that we already have planned out,” she said.

If your child goes to Ingels and is currently in kindergarten through fourth grade, they cannot opt out of this policy if they’re going to stay at the school. However, they can apply to transfer.

“We have already spoken with families who wanted to transfer but once they learned more about the benefits of the extended school year, they decided to keep their student within Ingels Elementary,” Goehring continued. “Quality instruction in the classroom equals student success. However, if families don’t want to remain at Ingels, our team will work with them to find the best solution.”