To Make Up Lost Days–

School Board Adjusts

School Calendar

By Eliza Hallabeck

How should Newtown’s school district make up the four school days of school cancellations caused by Tropical Storm Irene? Board of Education member David Nanavaty said at the board’s September 20 meeting that there was no right or wrong answer to that question.

By the end of the meeting the school board voted to add February 22, 23, and 24 to the calendar as school days, rather than hold those days as part of the scheduled February break. It also added a half-day of school to the end of the calendar, pushing the projected last day of school to June 14. In the event of further school cancellations, the last day of school will remain a half-day but will be moved back through June accordingly.

“We are not going to win this one,” said Mr Nanavaty during deliberations on the topic.

The school board’s decision came after postponing a vote on the issue at its previous meeting, when Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson first broached the idea of adding the days back to the calendar. The superintendent explained at the time the school calendar policy has lost days made up at the end of the school year in June, with any further lost days made up by adding days back in the calendar’s April vacation. She put three options before the board: it could add the school days to the end of the year, to the calendar’s April break, or to the calendar’s February break.

The average school year has four days lost due to snow cancellations, with the 2010-11 academic year an exception to that average.

Dr Robinson said during the previous meeting she was concerned because the school year started out with a four-day loss and the winter season had yet to begin.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Board of Education Chair William Hart said a letter from the Newtown Federation of Teachers asked the board to leave the calendar as is.

Board of Ed Secretary Andrew Buzzi said he heard overwhelmingly from parents in support of adding the days to the February break rather than at the end of June or during the calendar’s April vacation.

Noting the school district’s practice of dealing with lost days, school board Vice Chair Debbie Leidlein said she was torn on her decision to either follow the school district’s practice or make the decision based on the educational implications of adding the days to the end of the year.

Ms Leidlein moved to add the three days to February and the half-day to the end of the school calendar, with Mr Buzzi and board member Lillian Bittman both announcing their second to the motion simultaneously.

Board member Richard Gaines also pointed out during the meeting that extra days at the end of the school year and not during the year detracts from the number of school days Newtown High School students taking Advanced Placement courses have to study. The date of the Advanced Placement tests cannot be changed by the district.

The school board voted 6 to 1, with Mr Nanavaty voting against the motion, to adopt Ms Leidlein’s suggestion for the calendar.

Mr Nanavaty said eliminating the days during February break would have financial repercussions on families who have booked trips, teachers, and the school district through hiring substitute teachers to replace teachers who already had planned vacations.

In the past, Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said, the school district has honored teachers who have preplanned trips during scheduled vacations with those days off if they brought proof of having planned that time off before the days were added back to the calendar.

The practice of adding days to the end of the calendar then to the district’s April vacation, Mr Hart said was made with snow cancellations in mind.

Mr Buzzi said the school board was not debating the issue because it wanted to, but because it was reacting to the situation.