Date of 2015 prom

Question: What is the date for prom this year?

Answer: The 2015 junior/senior prom is scheduled for Saturday, May 30.

- answered by Michele Kelley, district communications specialist

Start and end times for Father/Daughter Dance

Question: According to the district calendar, the Father/Daughter Dance is scheduled for March 8 from 7-8 p.m. I am wondering if the time is correct. It seems like it would be a shame to limit such a fantastic event to just one hour. The school and families put a lot of time and money into preparations. Also, will information be forthcoming through eBackpack?

Answer: The time was not correct, and we apologize for any confusion that might have caused. The correct time is 6-9 p.m. And yes, a flyer about the dance was posted to the eBackpack last week.
- answered by Michele Kelley, communications specialist

2012-13 Calendar

Question: Can you please post the district calendar for 2012-13 showing the vacations, conference days, etc?

Answer: The board-approved 2012-13 calendar can be found here: http://www.bpcsd.org/Pdf/calendar1213.pdf  A link to the calendar is on the district home page, but I can understand how you might have missed it. We'll work with our district webmaster to make the calendar more visible.
- Stephen Tomlinson, Superintendent of Schools

Instruction days on district calendar

Question: The 2010-11 adopted calendar claims 186 "instructional" days. However, I am able to count only 174 (at best), not including Regents days. There are, again, five half days for professional development and another five half days for conferences, depending on which school your child is in. There are another three superintendent conference days that it is unclear if school is in session or not. In the past, it appears that the students don't receive much, if any, instructional class time on these days (based on what my children tell me). I am to understand that activities such as the "town meeting" or some other assembly may occur on the half day. How and why are they considered as part of the total "instructional" days?

Answer: Let me begin by saying that, although they seem simple, school calendars can be very complicated because of the state education laws that govern them. For instance, state education law states that school districts can have shortened sessions for staff development up to eight times a year, four times a semester.

Scheduling an extra day off

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

February break clarification

Question: The district calendar says there is no school on Feb. 11, 12, 15 and 16. However, the home page of the district Web site says that break is Feb. 12-16. Is Feb. 11 a scheduled day off?

Answer: February 11 is a superintendent's conference day. On that day, district staff reports to school, but students do not. Feb. 12-16 is designated as February Break, and neither staff nor students are to report on those days.
- answered by Georgia Baldwin, District Clerk

Half days added to district calendar

Question: I am hearing that notices were sent home with some students advising parents of 6 additional half days that are not on the current calendar. A notice was not sent home with my child (yet) and I am not able to find anything in regards to this announcement on the district Web site. I'm told the first half day is next week (Oct 7th) and need to plan for child care if need be. What grades are impacted and what are the dates of these new half days?

Answer: A letter was sent to parents last week informing them of five half-days that have been added to the district calendar to accomodate state-mandated professional development for all faculty and staff. The half days are:

• Wednesday, Oct. 7
• Friday, Nov. 13
• Wednesday, Jan. 6
• Wednesday, Mar. 3
• Wednesday, Apr. 14

On these days, secondary students (grades 6-12) will be released at 10:20 a.m. Elementary students (grades K-5) will be released at 11:20 a.m. There will be no afternoon pre-kindergarten on these days. The afterschool program will run; however, participants must bring their own bag lunch.