Question: I was wondering why the snow day/additional day off will be on Monday, April 12, when it seems as if that is very short notice for parents to get child care? Plus, of my three children, why have I gotten notice about this from only one of them at this point? Wouldn't it make more sense and be easier for parents to have this additional day off perhaps the day before Memorial Day weekend? I am curious how this decision came to be and why.
Answer: The district calendar committee, which is made up of four teachers, two administrators and the superintendent, recently discussed the possibility of having an extra day off because the district has an unused snow day. Two possible dates were considered: May 28th and April 12th. Although no official decision was made, the April 12th date was considered the most feasible considering all that goes into making final preparations for the June Regents exams. No official announcement has been made to the faculty and staff. Any information brought home by students is purely speculation at this point. A decision will be made by the end of the week and parents will be notified of this decision as soon as possible.
- answered by Stephen Tomlinson, District Superintendent
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Thank you for the response. But again, I find this disturbing that no "official" mention of this change has been made. For many of us trying to coordinate child care is very difficult, and waiting until 2 weeks before makes this even more of an issue (and taking into account having made arrangements for the previous week already, making another day of care can be difficult.) I also understand Regent testing or preparations are important, but that might be a good time for students to catch a bit of a break in May before all these tests arrive. Finally, perhaps having a parent or two on this committee might be a good idea as well!
ReplyDeleteHaving just heard about April 12 as a date now, it may be too late already - but has anyone considered what this does to working parents? Having just made arrangements for up to 7 days worth of alternate child care, now you are asking for one more tacked onto the end of that? And with 2 weeks notice?
ReplyDeleteJust a suggestion, instead of an extra day off how about an extra day of academic instruction. Maybe we could make up for one of those half days of enrichment for the staff and have our students enriched. I agree that finding care for them while I work is sometimes very difficult. Many times I'm able to allow them to come to work with me for the day which I hope in some way allows them to see what work is all about. Besides, why would we expect school to be in session for two consecutive five full day weeks?
ReplyDeleteI think since I was officially notified (when you were), 21 days is a lot of time to plan for an 8-10 hour child care situation. What do you do if we have a snow day? We surely do not get any 2 week notice there. If your childcare is not flexible, perhaps you need to go to plan B!
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