School districts trying to get waivers for snow days?

[PollyannaMom]

In some of the districts here, the kiddos are going on Saturday mornings....

That would drive me nuts. DS has CCD on Saturday mornings. - Nothing like causing a fight between the church and the school!

I'm very glad our district builds in snow days.

 

[SondraC]

That would drive me nuts. DS has CCD on Saturday mornings. - Nothing like causing a fight between the church and the school!

I'm very glad our district builds in snow days.

In the case of my older ds (our home school district) we always do build in snow days, but this years snow went above and beyond! Way beyond!

 

[barkley]

In the case of my older ds (our home school district) we always do build in snow days, but this years snow went above and beyond! Way beyond!

our schools build in snow days too but the last 2 winters were record breaking and there were insufficient days. luckily for us there's a state law that says if the govenor declares a state of emergency for an area then the missed days can be waived.

the thing that we're dealing with this year is that b/c there were so many schools that exceeded their snow days for the past 2 years there was a big push for the schools to build in extra days for this school year. for ds's school they sent out a calendar at the begining of the school year indicating some 1/2 day sunday sessions (they could'nt realy extend the year, they already attend from mid august thru the first week in june), with dd's they did extend the year.

THIS YEAR-you folks are getting all the snow and we've gotten almost none so we've had no snow days so far, so now the schools are rushing to eliminate those extra days (to save some money). with ds's it's no problem-just cancel those 1/2 day sundays, kids love it and parents love it. with dd however-we are only getting a week's notice when the schools decide to close on a particular day (like yesterday). while the kids love it-those parents who need daycare are left scrambling and end up having to pay out money they had'nt anticipated.

 

[kaytieeldr]

.

 

[Kimberle]

Well, in our case if our district does NOT get a waiver from the state our kids will be going to school until
JUNE 25th.
agnes!

We always end between June 22-25. We also start before Labor Day. It's hot, but they manage.

 

[Tikitoi]

I think it is a bunch of baloney. I pay taxes for the kids to go to school for 180 days and that is what they should go for. The teachers are getting paid for those 5 days, etc. I highly doubt we will get a "refund" on our taxes if they get the waiver. If they have to go for a few days into their summer vacation, so be it.

Exactly. A few days of extra school is not going to hurt the lack of education that is taught in most schools.

 

[rgf207]

I think it is a bunch of baloney. I pay taxes for the kids to go to school for 180 days and that is what they should go for. The teachers are getting paid for those 5 days, etc. I highly doubt we will get a "refund" on our taxes if they get the waiver. If they have to go for a few days into their summer vacation, so be it.

oh come on. Get real

 

[luvmy3]

Exactly. A few days of extra school is not going to hurt the lack of education that is taught in most schools.

Then a few less days wouldn't matter either

 

[agnes!]

I think it is a bunch of baloney. I pay taxes for the kids to go to school for 180 days and that is what they should go for. The teachers are getting paid for those 5 days, etc. I highly doubt we will get a "refund" on our taxes if they get the waiver. If they have to go for a few days into their summer vacation, so be it.

Exactly. A few days of extra school is not going to hurt the lack of education that is taught in most schools.

The last day of school was supposed to be June 22 and there were 3 snow days built into the calendar. *But* we have had 10 days lost to bad weather this school year...so everyone who had plans the 25th of June? Sorry, high school juniors and seniors you're going to have to miss out on that internship, walk out on that summer job, everyone with students in our system, you're now supposed to miss out on that summer vacation, because your parents actually scheduled it for when there wasn't supposed to be school. Plus, in our local high school the teachers give the kids their unofficial grades the last day of school, if you're not there you have to wait for the official report card to be mailed out about two weeks later.

I'm no mindless cheerleader for the public schools but for every one who has this jaundiced attitude towards public schools of thinking the kids don't work hard enough or aren't learning, I'd like for them to try to handle the coursework that I see many in our local high school handle. I have a Master's degree and the level of expectations that are put on many of the kids I know and then what they academically achieve in their high-school career is beyond much of what I was doing in college.

agnes!

 

[mum4jenn]

I think it is a bunch of baloney. I pay taxes for the kids to go to school for 180 days and that is what they should go for. The teachers are getting paid for those 5 days, etc. I highly doubt we will get a "refund" on our taxes if they get the waiver. If they have to go for a few days into their summer vacation, so be it.

Well...WE did not get paid for OUR snow day. It was used as a furlough day. THe economy is in such bad shape here in GA we will probably have 175 days of school next year...maybe more.

 

[SondraC]

I wish our district would finalize the calendar already!

 

[tngramma]

We just got a call that our school district is assuming they will get a waiver for 5 days. That makes June 15 our last day.

We still get a spring break.

 

[portocall]

We always have a week or more built into the calendar for weather events. After Hurricane Katrina, we went to school the first week, then didn't go back until October 15 or 16. Those days were waived for us. Granted, most of our students went to school in other areas of the state and country.

ETA: most of the time, we don't use more than a day of the extra time added (our school years are measured in educational minutes, not days) but we still do the extra time.

 

[Lisa_M]

I think it is a bunch of baloney. I pay taxes for the kids to go to school for 180 days and that is what they should go for. The teachers are getting paid for those 5 days, etc. I highly doubt we will get a "refund" on our taxes if they get the waiver. If they have to go for a few days into their summer vacation, so be it.

In our district, they are trying to get a few of the days waived for the kids. The teachers would still be working those days if it goes through.

 

[mhsjax]

I really can't speak for snow days, I am in Florida. But if a kid missing 5 days of school and not being made up is that important, then I think there are a lot bigger problems to worry about. I don't think 5 days will be theg difference between an Ivy league school or digging ditches. Besides have you ever seen how much time is wasted during an ordinary day. Not so much with middle and high school, but in elementary school.

 

[rgf207]

I think it is a bunch of baloney. I pay taxes for the kids to go to school for 180 days and that is what they should go for. The teachers are getting paid for those 5 days, etc. I highly doubt we will get a "refund" on our taxes if they get the waiver. If they have to go for a few days into their summer vacation, so be it.

It's funny how not making up 5 days is a huge deal but people think it's fine to pull their kids out of school for five days to go to Disney. Double standerd huh

 

[SolPlyr]

It's funny how not making up 5 days is a huge deal but people think it's fine to pull their kids out of school for five days to go to Disney. Double standerd huh

+100

 

[M5ward]

I think it is a bunch of baloney. I pay taxes for the kids to go to school for 180 days and that is what they should go for. The teachers are getting paid for those 5 days, etc. I highly doubt we will get a "refund" on our taxes if they get the waiver. If they have to go for a few days into their summer vacation, so be it.

I'm not a teacher but...it will be school administrations and boards applying for waivers..not teachers. Kids are supposed to go 180 days, but teachers are already scheduled for more than that..usually a couple of days prior to the opening of school and a day or two at the end of the school year. They also have a number of in-service days during the course of a year when the students are off. I think, contractually, in my state, at least, they have to work until June 30 if necessary; that is the point when the current year's contract expires. Something like that anyway.
Believe me, none of the teachers I know were very happy with all the days missed this year.