Stonington’s Board of Education published the following message on their blog on Friday, March 9th:
“In an effort to be consistent with stipulations it made when discussing this year’s school calendar, the Board of Education Thursday decided to keep the scheduled June 8 graduation date as is and eliminate three days of the April vacation. The change was necessitated because of school days lost to bad weather conditions and because the traditional means of making up these lost days – by tacking days onto the end of the school year – meant graduating seniors would not meet the state-mandated requirements for minimum number of days of school attendance. The changes mean school will be scheduled on April 11,12 and 13 and all students will have their final day of classes on June 8, which will be a half-day session. In addition to this change, the Board decided it will revisit the proposed school calendar for the 2012 -2013 school year in an effort to prevent a recurrence of this issue. For years, the Board has heard that the previous practice of allowing graduation day to fluctuate as the end of the school year was extended by snow and storm closures, caused a hardship for many families. Board members understand that decisions about the school calendar will not be universally popular.”
At this time, I would like to add some additional thoughts:
The Board and the Superintendent work together on the school calendar. The Superintendent builds sample calendars for the Board’s consideration each year, while the Board evaluates the nuances of each and ultimately votes to adopt a calendar it believes best supports student learning. In recent years, the emergence of regional calendar initiatives have meant that goals of calendar adoption have evolved beyond those of local traditions and now include considerations of regional professional development opportunities, cost savings due to transporting students to schools of choice through common schedules, etc.
When Hurricane Irene forced the loss of three school days at the start of this year, the Board looked at options associated with reclaiming these days early in the fall of 2011. They gave consideration to holding school on Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day and reclaiming professional development days in October or November. They discussed the value of professional development as well as contractual implications of holding school on holidays and in the end, they opted to stay the course and wait to see what the winter would bring in terms of school closures. The 2011-2012 calendar contained a clause which indicated April vacation could be in jeopardy if 5 days were lost before March 1st.
When March 1st arrived, the schools still had only three days to reclaim, but questions concerning HS graduation remained. A minimum school year must contain 180 days, and graduation dates are to be confirmed no later than April 1st. When the March BOE Agenda was published, it included an item labeled “2011-2012 Calendar Confirmation”. The need for the Board to discuss the calendar included finalizing how to handle the three missed days and decision-making concerning moving or confirming the HS graduation date. While there were public comments made at the meeting about the graduation party, the Board worked to focus on the required number of school days for students. As the blog excerpt above indicates, there is clear acknowledgment that many will not be pleased with the Board’s decision to eliminate three days from April vacation, nor with the decision to leave the graduation date untouched.
The question is: “What now”?
As Superintendent, I want to make the following statements:
1. The schools will be ready to receive children on April 11, 12 and 13. Learning remains our priority.
2. Families with travel plans established after the March 1st threat to vacation had passed and that cannot be changed, should go forward with them. Parents should use the typical process of sending notes to the school indicating such absences.
3. I am committed to working with staff to address their own conflicts over travel plans booked after the March 1st threat of vacation loss had passed.
4. We will eliminate hardships caused by this situation in any way we possibly can for students. This will include a careful look at the presentation of new material, homework, assessments, etc. during these three days.
Thank you to all who have communicated openly, and honestly, in response to this issue.
Leanne
BAD decision, so late…for so many reasons I don’t need to list. Enough said.
I am confused…This is a post on the BOE blog back in September..
This is crazy. Didn’t we cut down on their February vacation for the storm days? Now we are taking away their April vacation too? There is no reason why the school year can’t end in the middle of June like in the past years. You haven’t given a real reason why school HAS to end so early in June.
Superintendent Masterjoseph,
Your post does very little to clarify the BOE decision for me. If anything, in the closing questions, the inherent contradictions raise very serious concerns. In question 1 you state that schools will be open on April 11, 12, & 13. “Learning remains our priority.” In question 2, you suggest that any family with plans that cannot be altered will not be penalized for proceeding to go away. Since, in question 4 you state, “We will eliminate hardships caused by this situation in any way we possibly can for students…including a careful look at the presentation of new material, homework, assessments, etc. during these three days. To me this says, “THERE WILL BE NO LEARNING FOR THOSE CHILDREN WHOSE FAMILIES COULD NOT AFFORD TO GO AWAY. THEY WILL WATCH VIDEOS IN THE CAFETERIA AND BE BABYSAT BY SUBS”, because the children already know their teachers are angry. Many students were explicitly told to tell their parents to contest the decision, since they (the teachers) had no intention of showing up to work on those days.
My question to you and the BOE is: What message does this conflict send to our children?
Is this bureaucratic decision made without any solicitation of families’ input going to separate the “haves” from the “have-nots” as some head to Disney while others watch Disney movies? I will let the schools know that my children will not attend school April 11-13. They can learn more at home than they would by being herded together and given mindless tasks to do.
It’s not the loss of the days that is so disappointing, as much as the spirit in which the decision was determined by BOE and its implications were further elucidated by the Superintendent.
Dear Ms. Anderson,
As the Quakers say, “This Friend speaks my mind.” I completely agree with you that this letter does very little to clarify what persists in seeming a rash, peculiar, and inscrutable decision. Your points of contention are well put and I think accurately reflect the reactions of many parents. Furthermore, I have always had a high regard for Superintendent Masterjoseph’s sensible judgment and communication, so it pains me to witness what I reluctantly conclude to be a lapse of both. It’s all very troubling. One can’t help but wonder whether there must be more to the story than has come to light thus far.
I hope we can get ourselves sorted out in a fair and reasonable manner next year, because this unfortunately is just not acceptable.
I agree with both Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Allik,
What changed from the BOE blog posted on Sept. 10 stating three days would be added to the school calendar due to the tropical storm? (See comment Mrs. Wesson).
Also, has there been a discussion around how much this will cost the district in wages for substitutes due to teachers/staff previously booked travel?
Very well said and I could not agree more. Thank you!
“Families with travel plans established after the March 1st threat to vacation had passed and that cannot be changed, should go forward with them.”
Are you seriously saying that families with travel plans established BEFORE March 1st should change them? Travel plans and vacation plans aren’t made ona whim. Calendars are published for a reason: For planning. My kids won’t be in school those days.
My children too will not be in school. It’s obvious that there is not going to be any “learning” going on those three days sk again I ask, why?
This was posted on the BOE website….
Thanks to Tropical Storm Irene and the power outages and downed trees the storm caused, the opening of school was delayed three days. This meant the Board of Education was faced with a discussion about the possibility of adjusting the newly adopted regional school calendar after it was in effect for just three days.
The Board decided to take the traditional route of adding three days at the end of the school calendar, rather than eliminating fall holidays or very important staff development days. Stonington High School graduation will remain as scheduled – on a Friday.
Did they forget they posted this?
Also, did they figure the cost on subs for the teachers that will be out, or are they not going to pay the teachers that will be on vacation? It would seem to me that it would cost more than the $3000.00 deposit for the graduation party…
Already been called/ requested 3 times this weekend by 3 different paras. The sub finder system won’t allow me to put in a “not available, do not disturb” status. Like that phone ringing at 9:00 on a Saturday night!!! My family as well as MANY others will not be attending school as we made plans. My husband must take a vacation before May 1st or loose it, so summer was out of the question and booked our vacation back in January with final deposit due 30 days before arrival. Too late!! Nice post Candace Anderson well stated!!! Poor decision on all involved. I feel for the teachers and staff, they are very hard working and deserve a week of relaxing especially with no February vacation.
One more thing to add to my own post… These seniors should be demanded to attend classes over spring break, and if they don’t their diplomas should be withheld until they attend summer school or make up those days missed. I’m sure some of these senior families are taking that last final vacation before their kids go off into the real world.
This is outrageous. Essentially few students will attend school on these days, seniors get to hold a party at the end of the year, and the end result is that Stonington students, whether they attend the three days or not, will lose out on learning, i.e. attending only 177 days of true learning. Other school districts have taken the decision to take back vacation days, the difference being they made those decisions in the Autumn. Making a change like this 3 weeks before the vacation smells of something politically dodgy. I am appalled.
Ms. Masterjoseph:
I think the B of E is to blame here. When I attended a B of E meeting in the fall you had requested that the days missed during the hurricane be replaced duting the fall holiday breaks. Unfortunately, the B of E didn’t listen and now we are dealing with this situation. At this tim, any option would be unacceptable to some. I’m glad that future schedules will be scrutinized more closely.
Bernard Giserman
Mr. Giserman, you are right, it is the Board of Education’s purview, and not the superintendent’s. I was mistaken there and I thank you sincerely for your clarification.
A. Allik
Following is a note I posted on the BOE comment page. I have to say that after reading your further comments on this issue, as well as other people’s comments, the board’s decision to take away April vacation days makes even less sense to me….
Saying that eliminating most of April vacation will not be universally popular is quite an understatement. It also makes me realize that, since the board was voted in to represent the the voices of the parents and staff, then it seems that representation has gone astray.
It is not right to change a policy, stated on the existing calendar that April vacation will not be taken away unless there are more than 5 missed days, let alone a few weeks before that vacation. Also, the board had addressed this issue and chose to leave the calendar as is. Families, faculty and staff have made plans, and it not taking the rest of the district population into account to take away vacation based on the graduation date that effects a small part of the student population. A more resonable approach would be to move graduation until a few days after the last day of school for this year, as well as in the future, so this does not become an issue every year, and does not penalize the entire school district. Also, building snow days into the schedule when doing the calendar would be a simple solution as well, and done by many districts in New England and New York.
Besides being very unfair to all families planning to travel or spend time together this April vacation, the kids need a break! You took away the February vacation, and now expect them to go the whole second part of the year without a vacation. They need a break, not just a day or two, but enough time to unwind, stay healthy and spend time with family and friends!
Lastly, there are plenty of e-mails that come from the district, but there should of been multiple e-mails and notices sent home with students about this possible calendar change since it effects everyone in the district, and many people did not know this issue was being discussed.
The vacation should be reinstated, and the graduation date moved, while there is still plenty of time for the graduating class to plan. How do we go about getting our April vacation back for THIS year?
Sue Fornara
Ms. Masterjoseph,
I agree with many earlier posters. This seems a very poor decision made to please a loud, and probably influential few. In order to accommodate a small percentage of just one class at Stonington schools, the BOE has inconvenienced all 11 other grades and teachers. Plus as others pointed out there will be no teaching on those three days. Overwhelmed subs and kids who were planning in two weeks to be out for the week will lead to little if any progress.
The BOE should really reconsider this.
Steven Potochniak
Basically all grades have to take one on the chin, so that one grade can have their parties etc. Mature and well reasoned. Was not the point of taking away February vacation not to have issues like this? I for one thinks that if you all where part of a private company you’d all be asked to vacate your posts. I hope people remember the totally inept decision making by the boe during the election cycle
In your Sept. 10th post you report that the Board of Ed decided to add three days at the end of the school calendar and keep graduation on the same day. Did you not know that this decision would mean that seniors will fall short of the 180 day requirement?
This is a very costly mistake in tems of lost learning and taxpayer funds that will be spent hiring substitute teachers.
OUTRAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to voicelessness!! What about the school children that absolutely cannot afford to miss school because they will fall too far behind; what about the families that have already booked vacations based on prior decisions of the Board of Education; what about all the substitute teachers that will be there for the teachers that have planned their vacations a year ago.
However, I suppose the Board of Education has made some families happy – they save in daycare expenses because the Stonington School System can babysit for 3 days that week!!!!
As far as attendance – I am certain the absentiseem rate for the month of April may be the highest in the State of Connecticut. Good job Board of Education!!!!!
Ms. Masterjoseph – you correctly point out that the agenda for the March BOE meeting contained an agenda item “2011-2012 Calendar Confirmation”. This agenda item does not actually describe the agenda item brought before the board. Had it more accurately described a decision that had to be made about how to get the three lost days back into the calendar, perhaps the BOE would have had more response from parents about options and implications of those options. You would also have been able to address the parents and communicate your concerns, including any constraints on the decision made. I am still, unsatisfied, however, with your response. As I stated in an earlier post, this situation was identified in September and tabled. It is apparent that you and the BOE did not identify that the seniors would not have 180 days of school prior to graduation. How does that happen? Why did that happen? What are you going to do to prevent this same occurrence from happening next year? There are 182 days of scheduled classes before high school graduation. That gives you two days of unplanned school day losses. Based on your post, you propose school calendars for the Board of Education. I recommend that you schedule high school graduation 5 days after the last school day. That gives you five days to add to the end. I understand this makes the end of the school year somewhat of a moving target, but if people can plan on there not being school after high school graduation, then there is something to plan to and you don’t put yourself in this position again.
Feedback on your statements: #1: You state that learning is a priority and that you will be ready to receive students on 11-13 April. This works until you make statements 2, 3, and 4. In my opinion, school is in session or it’s not. You are not prioritizing learning, you are meeting a statutory requirement of having 180 days in the school year. You are compromising the learning that will occur by not having a full complement of teachers, full attendance by students, and implying that there won’t be much new material or tests covered. I don’t understand the “March 1st threat” – this threat did not appear in the agenda. Perhaps you and the BOE knew of it because of the inaction in September, but the agenda for the meeting did not identify this “threat”. The possibility that this would happen was simply not communicated to the stakeholders.
Why are the middle and elementary schools subject to this schedule change? Why are these students subject to the same scheduling restrictions as the high school? Is there a requirement that all the schools have the same calendar?
Who is the person responsible? Where is the accountability for getting to this point?
Aaron Thieme
The boe removed feb vacation to avoid this, stated last year that 3 extra days would be added to the end of the school year: now they have decided to change all that to save $ for hs senior class on the backs of the rest of the community. What’s the point of sending my kids to school when they have been told that they will just watch movies and go on field trips (which will undoubtedly cost my family more money). This boe should be fired!
Every Stonington parent I have spoken to has expressed both disbelief and outrage at this decision, which was made without any warning to us. I can’t imagine how the teachers and staff feel, who are being forced to work the last two thirds of the school year without a week break. If the BOE made a promise to not move the graduation date, that was foolish. As a result, absentee statistics for the district will skyrocket, since thousands of families will not be sending their children to school as a statement or due to vacation plans….have they thought about that? When does it make sense to disrupt every single family who has children in Stonington schools for the benefit of the graduating 300 students? This was political suicide for the BOE, and will not be forgotten on voting day, rest assured. A word of advice….work 5 snow days into the schedule every single year, just like thousands of New England public schools do, and all of this drama and frustration would be completely avoided.
[…] During a past few days Stonington School families uttered their ubiquitous dismay over a preference on Stonington-Mystic Patch on a Stonington Board of Education Blog and on a blog of Superintendent Leeane Masterjoseph. […]
Question? What now? How is the school handle the extra cost of this change on the system? In fact could more then the 3000 dollar non refundable deposit? How are the class advisors that allowed it? This happens every year. Why was this cought last min.? Do the kids infact loose two educational days? 182-180? Are we the residents paying those teachers for two days lost?
Seniors should be demanded to attend classes over the spring break, and if they don’t their diplomas should be withheld until they attend summer school. I’m sure some senior parents have made vacation plans as their kids are off to the real world!!
Lisa Noyes-Duguay
I am very dismayed to learn that the hard working students have not only lost a February vacation but now only will have 2 days of their vacation week off. I have cancelled my work schedule to be home this week to spend much needed time with my son. The students all had many things planned for this week. I think this is very unfair, especially for the Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors. Have the Seniors attend school this week and have the lower grade students stay in school 3 extra days. Many families have other family members coming to visit for the Easter weekend and the break. There must be a way to keep them off this week. Totally unacceptable.
Back in my high school days (1970’s) when we needed to make up school days we attended school on Saturdays. That certainly would solve the problem.
MMS Mother: I am ambivalent about whether the vacation occurs or not. I am not ambivalent about what happens if the kids are in school, however. If so many teachers will be gone, as well as many students, why not make some lemonade out of lemons? Challenge the teaching staff to develop an immersive experience – hands on, experiential, cross-curricular, engaging students in a new way. Use other community resources…. Use this opportunity to develop leadership and character skills, problem solving skills etc. Done right, the kids who stayed in school will be so excited that their vacationing friends will be sorry they missed out! Everyone can win.
I am very upset by this decision and I am appalled that the BOE would only take into account the needs of the senior class. Because you do not want to move the date of graduation you are eventually punishing all the other children that attend Stonington Public Schools for your lack of planning and $3000. As far as telling only those families with travel plans to continue with them, yet everyone else without travel plans must attend school. I do not send my children to school to be “babysat” I send them to school to learn. My children will not be attending school on those days and it is none of the School Districts business if I have travel plans or not.
Please send the right message- education is valuable. Teachers are valued. Classroom time is meaningful. Parents, administrators, and teachers need to think about how to handle this situation and communicate effectively. Administrators and teachers may need to provide parents with the specific plan for the days (who is teaching and the materials covered) so they can support their children. I would like to think that teachers and substitutes would continue to foster a learning environment and continue to teach on these days. We love our children and want them to learn at school.
Ms. Masterjospeh,
I hope you will help the board of ed prioritize student learning in regard to setting future calendars. Please consider that 1) April break is important for families and students to have a break now that February week vacation has been elinimated; and 2) an early June ending to the school calendar makes for too long of a summer for students, especially given what we know about summer learning loss.
Thanks, Jennifer O’Brien
Like every other diligent parent, when we missed three days of school in August (before even stepping foot into school for the year), I added three days of school to my calendar to accomodate = June 15. I am baffled and confused as to why this was a problem for the Class of 2012 to figure out and make their plans accordingly.
I was under the impression that we had made an effort this year to sync our calendars with that of the surrounding area, i.e. Groton, Ledyard, etc. So I am again confused as to why the Graduation date was not also synced at June 15? Graduation was an issue last year as well due to snow days, so why did we not learn from that and push out the date when the calendar was made? We do live in Connecticut and we do get snow. If we were to research this a bit more and learn from our fellow snow-ridden neighbors, it is quite common for a graduation date to be set mid to late June to accomodate such an event, even if the kids end up getting out of school a week prior.
What about the income loss to our Stonington businesses who counted on this week for children’s camps? The Como and Terra Firma come to mind. And are the funds refundable to the parents who can now send their kids to school?
What about the student who struggles in school and missing even one day is very hard to for him/her to make up and keep up with the class – whose family has made non-refundable travel plans?
I won’t touch on the teachers rights – as I am sure that will be addressed separately – or was it even considered?
And because my three children will not be attending school for the week of spring break, will I be receiving a truancy letter like I did back in November when they missed 2.5 days for visiting their grandparents for Thanksgiving? Or will that be waived, sounds like there will be a lot to send out and that could be costly to the mailing budget.
My husband returns on April 7th after a one-year active duty tour in Bahrain. He went out of his way to make these travel plans to arrive just in time for his children’s spring break, as planned, as per the school calendar. Are you really telling the families of Stonington to not make any plans until March 1st each year?
I find this last minute decision by the BOE, selfish and self-serving. Come on Ms. Masterjoseph, you are better than this, do the right thing and make a decision that benefits the majority of Stonington students and teachers and not the select few.
Ms. Masterjoseph, I have read all the above comments as I am sure you have, and it is clear the BOE has made grave error. I am confident they will do the intelligent thing and repeal this decision, if they don’t I am confident this lapse of judgement will be remembered when election time rolls around again, and they will be the ex-BOE. You see I am returning to my family after being away for one year in Bahrain, serving our nation, and we will be spending the week together, and you will not be receiving any notes from us to excuse their absences, because their absences are already excused by the 2011-2012 school calendar. We settled in Stonington to ensure our children had the best education possible. If I wanted a BOE that habitually makes bad decisions, we would have stayed in our home state of Florida. Do the right thing.
If there is truth to the article in The Day about the calendar, then the BOE has a bigger issue to deal with…a calendar that violated regulations before the school year even started.
The loss of school due to the hurricane should have been addressed immediately and completely in September, not in March. Vacation time is family time. The graduation party planning should not be driving the decision; it would be more cost effective to refund the senior parents for the deposit than pay all the substitutes.
How about something creative like Saturday school at the high school for a total of three Saturdays during April and May. This approach would solve the problem!
The elementary and middle school could attend three extra days at the end of the year. Everybody could have April vacation. Graduation and the party could go on as planned.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE COMMENTED, PLEASE NOTE DAY AND TIME OF MEETING!!
Stonington – It appears the Board of Education may reconsider its controversial decision to eliminate three days from the upcoming April vacation.
The board emerged from a 75-minute executive session at about 8:20 p.m. Tuesday and announced that before it negotiates issues surrounding the change with the teachers union, it will meet on Thursday at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined to further “explore the issue of the school calender.”
Board Chairwoman Gail MacDonald declined to make any further comment. Asked whether residents will have a chance to address the board at that meeting, she said board meetings traditionally have a public comment period at the beginning.
The board went into the closed door session Tuesday night to discuss a letter from the teachers’ union requesting that the board and the union enter “impact bargaining” to negotiate issues affecting teachers as a result of the change in the school calendar.
Before beginning those negotiations, though, teachers have asked the school board to revisit its decision and have students attend school on June 11, 12 and 13, after graduation. The union made a similar recommended, that graduation remain on June 8 and that seniors attend school for three days the week after graduation. This would give seniors the opportunity to attend 180 days of school, the minimum that towns must provide under state law.
High School Principal Stephen Murphy has opposed having seniors attend school June 11, 12, and 13, saying it would create havoc with graduation practice, exams and regular classroom instruction for other students. He said if school could not end on June 8, he would rather see graduation moved to June 15.
Teachers’ union president Gretchen Noonan has told the board that the issues that need to be considered include: the number of students who have vacation plans for April vacation; the difficulty in finding and hiring qualified substitutes; the cost of substitutes; the effect on instructional continuity and quality; and the climate and morale of the staff and teaching faculty.
Two weeks ago, the board voted to keep graduation on June 8 and eliminate April 11, 12 and 13 from the upcoming vacation to make up for the three days that school was closed after Tropical Storm Irene. The board made the decision after seniors and their parents urged the board not to change the date of graduation because it would jeopardize the ability of family and friends to attend the ceremony.
It also would endanger plans for the all-night graduation party. Party organizers said they likely would lose their $3,000 deposit if the date were changed.
It was later learned that the original 2011-12 school calendar adopted by the Board of Education violated state law because it set a specified graduation date, June 8, but did not have the 185 school days the state requires when a specific graduation date is set.
The decision has created a controversy, as many parents say their children will not be in class April 11-13 because they have made travel plans. Some parents who do not have plans say they are worried about what will be taught those during three days if large numbers of students and teachers are absent.
As of Monday, according to preliminary district figures, 62 of the district’s 260 teachers or certified staff planned to be absent on April 11; 59 on April 12; and 52 on April 13. With substitutes costing $80 per day, the school system could be looking at a bill of almost $14,000. A few of those positions, though, would not have to be filled by substitutes.
Between 80 percent and 100 percent of the substitutes needed have been secured for all the schools except for the high school, where about 73 percent have been secured.
The fact that a large number of teachers may be absent from school also has raised questions in terms of the contract between the school system and teachers.
Allowing more than one or two teachers per school to take two personal days off at the same time violates the contract. In addition, the contract does not specify that teachers are paid for personal days as it does for other types of leave. Superintendent of Schools Leanne Masterjoseph has said that in the past, personal days have been paid when approved, and MacDonald has said that when a contract does not specifically prohibit something, then it is typically allowed.
Teachers also are required by contract to be involved in 182 days of teaching, but with the board’s change to the calendar, they will only teach 180 days because school would end for all students on June 8, a half day. Some residents have asked whether teachers, who work a total of 187 days, would be paid for those two days.
j.wojtas@theday.com