School Committee member Angela Pitter posted this on Twitter Tuesday morning…
Let's take a poll – school in July or skip April vaca? @14thVillage @CSteele02468 @JimMorrisonTAB @newtontab @_EmilyNorton
— Angela Pitter (@angelapitter) February 10, 2015
And here’s the poll:
[polldaddy poll=”8648254″]
Slightly longer school days.
Is that allowable?
Take away MCAS and PARCC testing. Between prepping and teaching to the test, and then implementation days, the district will gain back a dozen days.
Most of these changes would probably require a negotiated change to the contracts. There are roughly 80 school days left in the year. If we extended each of those days by 22 minutes, the time gained would amount to 5 school days — beyond those set in the schedule (which includes 5 snow days). Among the options, this might be least disruptive to everyone’s schedules.
Why don’t we ask Brian Williams – he will have plenty of free time. Looks like NBC takes these kinds of things a bit more seriously than Newton Public Schools.
What Bruce said.
Last day with 5 snow days is Tuesday, June 23. So I guess now we’re at the 24th. Isn’t the problem that contractually we can’t go past June 30? Still have room to add 4 more days until then.
Tricia, teachers have two work days after students leave, so we only have two days left until we are up against the contract limit.
Ok, but what are the chances of having more than 2 more snow days this year, right? I mean, come on, can’t happen, right? Right?! 😉
“Never” isn’t an option. State law requires 180 days of school and the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell Chester, has indicated that he will not waive that requirement for anyone.
So I am confused/concerned as to why a sitting member of the school committee would twitter this. Doesn’t she know that the teachers contracts doesn’t allow them to go into July? And Since when do the teachers get 2 days after the school year ends. Every year for the past 12 – they stay ONE day after the end of the year. It is listed on the NPS calendar.
So if we were already ending school on the 23rd and now have a 6th day which means we end on the 24th – by my calculations we still have 3 more days we can add on to the end of the school year and the last day would be the 29th and the last day for the teachers would be the 30th.
And what about Good Friday – why cant that be added back into the calendar if we need another day. Even if it is made to be an early release day.
I have heard the April vacation idea mooted elsewhere (not necessarily in regards to Newton, I forget where that was). Yes, that could upset some vacation plans, but I suppose “vacation” or even “day off” is the key term to consider here.
The longer school day could be a problem regarding after-school activities, particularly interscholastics- I’m not sure about those logistical hurdle (or any contractual issues with teachers).
Good Friday? I’m not particularly religious, but I can see some folks having a huge problem with that one (imagine if someone decided that we needed to have school on Yom Kippur? Yes, that comparison is apt).
What has been done in past severe winters? Does anyone remember? I cannot remember, we must have come up against this at some point in the past.
Maybe we get lucky- fingers crossed.
Why don’t we eliminate some of the weekly/monthly early release days?
I don’t think the early release days count against the total- but if there are any scheduled days off (I’m not sure there are), I wonder if those are “touchable.”
Reduce the April break by the number of days needed, or cancel the whole thing? It has my support if they were to have school all five days of the scheduled break, and end the school year early by the number of days that would then be surplus.
And I do understand that it’s not really an option.
Why are there two week-long breaks and school into late June, rather than one week in March and an earlier end, as in most areas of the country, instead? Especially with un-air conditioned schools within the system?
That one is a real question.
Does anyone know if making school days longer could really apply as additional days, even if the minutes and hours add up sufficiently? Is the DESE’s requirement the number of days or total number of hours for the year?
The Globe editorial page is advocating a single week of break in March. Yes, this is what many if not most school districts across the country do, but it may not be as simple as it looks.
On the face of it, if you replace two week-long breaks with one week-long break you’ve gained five days. But, many school districts have a day off for President’s Day, which now coincides with the February break week. I am confident that Massachusetts, especially in the Boston area, would continue to have a day off on Patriot’s Day, which coincides with the April break week. So perhaps you’ve only gained 3 days. Many school districts have breaks at Christmas/New Year that are a day or two longer than in Newton (this year many districts had Mon & Tue Dec 22 & 23 off in addition to Newton’s vacation), but that does not have to change.
The key difference (besides snow days) is that most school districts that get out earlier in June start school before Labor Day. I think that August is generally hotter than June, so air conditioning would be even more of an issue.
At some point, snow days need to come out of April or Feb break. A clear policy should be developed on snow days beyond the first few so that camps and parents know that school may go all the way through June and/or April break may not be a full week.
Wait til NEXT school year. . . . Labor Day is REALLY late, and Newton is scheduled to start the day after Labor Day . . . . This is going to get messy if we have a similar winter.
I can’t see adding onto each day . . . . . kids don’t just come home after school . . . there are activities that parents paid for, and baby sitters that get paid. I can’t get my money back from gymnastics or swim, now that my kid has a longer day by 30 minutes!
It is time we look at the calendar . . . start the week before Labor Day, and take one school vacation in March, and instead of 8 vacation days kids get four. We will still be off Patriots and Presidents Day.
We can’t take away Good Friday this year (we already had the Jewish holidays off).
It is time to eliminate April vacation – we don’t go any where, and if we had already booked tickets, so be it.
I look forward to the discussion!
BruceB,
My kids summer camp starts registration on November 1, before the snow falls.
My kids will miss the last day of school. Two years ago this happened. Frankly my kids work hard, and if they miss the last few days (they are young enough) so be it. They didn’t decide on the snow days. And when they are home with me I have learning time from 9 AM to 2 PM (not a full day of learning, but enough through Khan Academy, reading, foreign language improvement, writing a short story, etc) that I feel that missing the last two days isn’t a big deal. Of course they aren’t taking finals yet.
But as much as I value school, I don’t want them to miss the first two days of overnight camp – when the bonding is happening at camp. I would encourage blizzard bags or some other learning to happen on snow days.
For six snow days, only my son’s Spanish teacher, sent an email that had school work, for one day. I think we can do a better job.
I don’t understand why we cant add on in June? That would give us an additional 3 days and would allow for the one day for Teachers.
So the June issue is the overnight camps that people have paid for? So it is OK for those that have paid already for their April vacations??
Yes Joanne, it’s OK.
Seriously. None of this is OK. But it is what we have to deal with.
That why today’s Globe editorial suggesting just one week vacation between new years and June makes a lot of sense.
Joanne,
No I don’t think it is fair. One of my son’s friend’s will be missing the first day of camp, because his parents feel a full school year should happen BEFORE camp starts. I am the parent that wants to start camp the first day. We each decide.
If they take away April vacation and we have already purchased our tickets to vacation (in laws) we would still go. However, I can see other families cancelling and paying through the nose.
Families have changed so much since the school year calendar was created. We used to have kids home with a non working parent. Of course, in the summer, help was needed on farms. Our school calendar has not kept the pace with the needs of current families.
But, if you are asking me which to do personally – skip April vacation.
Thank you Margaret for reminding us there are state laws governing the number of school days in an academic year. In addition, the City of Newton has contractual obligations with their union employees, which one would assume the School Committee members are familiar. Or is this actually something we poll on blogs as a matter of public opinion?
After the Blizzard of ’78, Brookline added 5 minutes to the beginning of the day and 10 minutes to the end to make up the time and that worked out quite well. It didn’t have an impact on after school activities, and frankly we hardly noticed the additional minutes. That year, every community in the Metro-Boston area had 2 complete weeks off from school for the blizzard (in addition to a few other days), so the issue was much more complicated than what we’re experiencing so far.
As for Good Friday, I’d compare it to the evening of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The religious holiday begins at sundown and student and teachers attend school on that day and leave immediately after school/work to observe their religious traditions. The religious observance of Good Friday begins at noon, with a solemn period until 3:00, followed by evening services. As one who observes this holiday, I see a half day of school to be perfectly acceptable, as it allows time for teachers and students to observe their religious tradition.
Every family will have different priorities, and that’s okay. The teachers will be there on the days and times assigned and will teach the students who arrive. As for changing the the vacation schedule, a number of years ago, some years ago the School Committee proposed dropping the February vacation, and the high school students and parents created such a stir that the proposal was withdrawn. The community may be ready for this change, but this is just word of caution that one person’s solution is another’s problem.
Thanks Jane for explaining the Good Friday Holiday so well. That was my point as a Catholic – we dont go to church till the afternoon – so if they had school and had an early release it would work. And this year with Easter being before the April Break it would not interfere with people that use that day to leave for the April Break.
When my kids were in school, many parents advocated for one week off in March but, just as Jane mentioned, when the town council put it up for a vote keeping the February and April vacations won by a landslide. In our town it was not only parents but teachers who wanted to keep it the way it was. I’ve never really understood why. But times have changed and many more parents are both working so there might be a different outcome.
I’m puzzled by the tweet from a SC member because at this point, unless it is already mentioned as a possibility in contracts, it is up not up for debate. As I see it any change will be made only through negotiation with school personnel and their unions.
My guess is it was a lighthearted tweet to get people’s thoughts, not meant to imply that the responses would dictate the decisions they make.
You would think a sitting SC member would know that the teachers contract does not allow for any days after June 30th. If she wants to discuss this issue she should do it at a SC meeting and hopefully not one held behind closed doors.
What about skip Good Friday (April 3rd), or Memorial Day (May 25th)?
If we skip April Vacation, we will not be able to use the Monday because that day will be the Boston Marathon and it is hard to get around.