Norwalk students will spend part of their February vacation in school. The Board of Education voted Tuesday night to remove three days--Tues., Wed., Thurs.-- from the annual Winter break.
“We are not going to please everyone, but my recommendation is to use days in February,” said schools superintendent Susan Marks. “There has been so much disruption, and the schools need to prep for CMTs.” Marks added that Trumbull, Stratford, Easton and Redding have canceled their February breaks.
There have been seven snow days to date, and the district needs to make up five days in order to comply with the state’s minimum requirement of 180 days.
In an 7-1 vote, school board members decided that school will be in session Tuesday through Thursday, Feb. 22-24. Students and teachers will be off Feb. 21 and 25. School will also be held on March 25, which was originally scheduled to be a professional development day for teachers. Two additional days will be added at the end of the year. Barring any more snow days, the last day of school will be June 22 for students, June 23 for teachers.
Back-to-back winter storms have resulted in snow days almost every week since the beginning of 2011. As the days piled up, Norwalk students and parents have wondered how they would be made up. To gather the public’s input, Marks posted a survey on the Internet asking whether to cancel vacations in February or April, or have days added in June. The survey showed a slight preference for making the days up during February break.
Marks said she would ensure a “smooth process” so that staff and students who had made vacation plans would have excused absences. Board Member Jodi Bishop- Pullan asked Marks about the number of necessary staff like nurses and cafeteria workers who will be absent during that week. Marks said she did not know who among the staff will not be able to work that week, but has been in consultation with union leaders.
Initially, Marks proposed using four days in February and one in June. However, Bishop-Pullan said she would be “more supportive” of using three days. Generally, she supported taking days away from February break. “The students don’t need the time at the end of the year. They need it now,” she said. However, she expressed concern about the amount of time students, particularly high school students, who had vacation plans would miss. “Missing four days in high school is a lot to miss.
Board Member Steven Colarossi put forth a motion for the three-day scenario. Board member Sue Haynie, the only dissenting vote, said after the meeting she preferred canceling four days during the February break. Board Member Migdalia Rivas was absent.
Earlier in the meeting, Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Bruce Mellion said that he supported canceling part of February break and had met with Marks twice to discuss the matter.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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I don't get why the BOE didn't allow for an extra long President's weekend by giving us Tuesday off instead of Friday. It's just too chopped up and as a result there will likely be many students out on the Tuesday for families traveling the holiday weekend.
ReplyDeleteYAY, I am happy about the decision. Of course there will be some like the above who don't like parts of the decision, but I am glad Dr Marks and the BOE did decide, as we know there WILL be more snow days still.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anonymous. And where will the schools find all those subs for those staff members who have vacations planned. There is enough disruption already.
ReplyDeleteWhat will happen if it snows on those 3 days?
ReplyDeleteif it snows it snows.....we can't predict what will happen, but at least it is there for the kids. I agree with the first poster--I think it is choppy to have the middle three days of the week--at that point, we should have gone all week. I would have like the Wed, Thurs, Fri senerio, but this works and at least our kids will be in school. I am disappointed that it took so long to make a decision--couldn't the board of ed called an emergency meeting to make this decision last week so there would be more prep time? Kudoos for making a decison for the kids--not for the egos.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't title this "Schools Lose 3 Days of Break". I would title it, Students Win Back 3 days of School"
ReplyDeleteI am very happy that this is the decision. and I agree with anonymous that schools win back 3 days. This is a priority and the kids must be in school, especially with the testing coming up.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I'm really glad they took the days from February break. Also, I kind of like the two three-day weekends bookending the snow days to spread out the vacation days.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, Norwalk's neediest kids weren't going to Florida or Italy or anywhere else. They might as well be prepping for the infernal CMTs.
The 2 long weekends was a dumb idea that the union wanted not the parents. Now parents need to take another day off of work and the kids have an extra day added on June and we all know how useful those days are, not.
ReplyDelete7:58, Monday is a federal holiday, so many if not most parents would be off anyways. If the kids are in school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, doesn't that mean the parents take off one day of work (Friday) instead of four?
ReplyDeleteThe talk on the street is that either the BOE, Superintendent, or personnel director will force teachers to use some or all of their personal time during what would have been February Break. Not a good approach. What will be the fallout if teachers are forced to do this? In May, when a teacher needs to bring an aging mother or sick child to a doctor's appointment at 10:30 a.m., how will they ask for the time? If they were forced to use personal time in February, their only option is to take a "sick" day (a full day) as opposed to using a few hours of personal time to take care of family business. Yet if the district doesn't make teachers burn their personal days now, they would have them when really need them. When absences are handled appropriately, teachers can coordinate schedules to get the "right" sub, someone who knows their students and likes teaching their grade and subject area. If personal time is forcibly used now, we will observe how in the coming months teachers will play sick and call in at 9:30 p.m. since that is their only option. What then? Kids may get a sub totally unable or interested in covering a class, but since subs accept assignments as they come - we can't blame them. What's the alternative for handling this exceptional situation we are experiencing now? Let teachers use their accumulated sick time during February Break. That way they can handle personal situations later on in the year both professionally and appropriately. Or, why not code these make-up snow days some other way? Regardless of how this is handled, there are benefits to letting teachers manage their personal days freely. There are some great subs in our district who know their material and can teach well, when given sufficient notice. So let's allow teachers to use personal time like any company would, responsibly. If this nonsense of using personal time in February Break really happens, our students "win" in February but end up losing out on valuable and well coordinated instruction from March through June when teachers need to be absent. Let's come up with a solution that really works for both our teaching staff and our students.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Taking personal time now for vacation makeup week forces teachers to use "sick time" later.And when they have family obligations in May and June they will use it as they well should. It will be interesting to see how many classes need subs during Feb makeup week and just how many subs are available throughout the district. Teachers should be able to choose if they want sick or personal time used for the makeups on an individual basis. Treat teachers as the professionals that they are.
ReplyDeleteThe last two posts hit the nail on the head. The article says that Marks was in discussions with the union. Did the union weigh in on behalf of teachers offering them reasonable options? Teachers have a right to good working benefits just like anyone else. They work hard. To make them use personal time instead of sick time for this last minute arrangement undermines the value we place on them.
ReplyDeleteHow about we stop consulting the unions. They aren't going to be around much longer anyway. We need to follow the leads of other towns in Connecticut and go to one spring break and no winter break. Let's face it, the teachers get three months off in the summer. They can deal with a holiday and spring break and lessen the impact of snow days.
ReplyDeleteAnd for those non-certified staff who came in on snow days, they will start taking their accumulated vacation and sick days REAL soon!!
ReplyDeleteMarks is just begging for a dose of the teacher flu to hit the schools if she gets to be too much of a nudge on this.
ReplyDeleteGood one 5:12. We wish we had 3 months off in the summer, are ya kidding me??? We get out in late June. Many teachers work summer programs or other jobs and then we have to go back in late August to set up for the next school year. Get a clue 4:18!
ReplyDeleteUsing personal time now just means that teachers will use sick time later in the year when they need it for family obligations or other business.
This is a situation where there is no right or wrong answer, but it must be played out fairly for all, teachers and parents alike. Let's
try to work together to make it as good as it can be for the students!
5.12 - Dose of TEACHER FLU????? I sure hope you are NOT teaching any of my children! Odds are you have several unemployed or underemployed parents in your classroom!
ReplyDeleteShame on you.
Wait a second - Did someone actually suggest that teachers take sick time rather than personal time for the days we need to make up? Do these days accumulate and are they paid out at retirement?
ReplyDelete