When would you like your child to start school — early August or a week later? You can vote, but start dates can’t be earlier than Aug. 6 or later than Aug. 13.

What the Fayette County Board of Education wants to know, and is asking parents to help them decide, boils down to choosing the current early August start date, or a week’s later start, plus three different combinations of slightly fewer days off at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Winter and spring breaks are untouched in all four options under consideration for the 2007-2008 school years.

The proposals and the survey are available at the board’s Web site at fcboe.org. Copies are also available at the individual schools.

The first proposal has school starting Aug. 6, 2007 and ending May 23, 2008. Featured in the proposal is a five-day Thanksgiving break, along with a nine-day “semester break,” or what used to be called Christmas holidays.

Proposal two starts school three days later on Aug. 9, but still has the last day of school as May 23. Students only receive a three-day Thanksgiving break. The Christmas break is for eight days.

The third proposal starts school a week later on Aug. 13 and has students finishing the school year May 30, also a week later. Students would get a five-day Thanksgiving break and would get off the Memorial Day holiday May 26, since they would still be in school. For the Christmas break, classes end Dec. 20 but students would come back on Jan. 3, nine days later.

The fourth, and final option, starts school Aug. 13 and ends school May 23. Students would only receive three days for the Thanksgiving break. Christmas break would be seven days, with students returning on Wednesday, Jan. 2.

The board is expected to approve the new calendar shortly after school starts in August.