Another School Calendar issue

After that huge thread on early release days and school calendaring,
TODAY, Nov 4th, my kids bring home a *new, revised calendar* creating
another FULL DAY OFF, and 2 more early release days, lengthening the
school year by 2 days. Can you say *really ****ed off?*

It's bad enough that we have a day off next Tuesday, and then 2.5 days
off for Thanksgiving, making this month a full 15.5 days of education
for the entire month. But the letter from the superintendent was so
lame. "School calendar wasn't finalized because of school
committee/teacher's union collective bargaining" crud.

Is it too much to ask for a darn calendar to be final *before* school
starts?

Marjorie

"chiam margalit" wrote in message
om...
After that huge thread on early release days and school calendaring,
TODAY, Nov 4th, my kids bring home a *new, revised calendar* creating
another FULL DAY OFF, and 2 more early release days, lengthening the
school year by 2 days. Can you say *really ****ed off?*

It's bad enough that we have a day off next Tuesday, and then 2.5 days
off for Thanksgiving, making this month a full 15.5 days of education
for the entire month. But the letter from the superintendent was so
lame. "School calendar wasn't finalized because of school
committee/teacher's union collective bargaining" crud.

Is it too much to ask for a darn calendar to be final *before* school
starts?

Definitely NOT!! I'd be really annoyed by this as a teacher, too. Ours is
finalized in April or so, and the tentative one is available now (and has
about a 90% chance of being the finalized one). Parents get it before school
lets out.


Marjorie

"chiam margalit" wrote in message
om...
After that huge thread on early release days and school calendaring,
TODAY, Nov 4th, my kids bring home a *new, revised calendar* creating
another FULL DAY OFF, and 2 more early release days, lengthening the
school year by 2 days. Can you say *really ****ed off?*

It's bad enough that we have a day off next Tuesday, and then 2.5 days
off for Thanksgiving, making this month a full 15.5 days of education
for the entire month. But the letter from the superintendent was so
lame. "School calendar wasn't finalized because of school
committee/teacher's union collective bargaining" crud.

Is it too much to ask for a darn calendar to be final *before* school
starts?

Marjorie

Yeah, time to send a letter to the school board that this is unacceptable.
You elect the school board. They should be doing better.

Cathy Kearns wrote:


"chiam margalit" wrote in message
om...
After that huge thread on early release days and school calendaring,
TODAY, Nov 4th, my kids bring home a *new, revised calendar* creating
another FULL DAY OFF, and 2 more early release days, lengthening the
school year by 2 days. Can you say *really ****ed off?*

It's bad enough that we have a day off next Tuesday, and then 2.5 days
off for Thanksgiving, making this month a full 15.5 days of education
for the entire month. But the letter from the superintendent was so
lame. "School calendar wasn't finalized because of school
committee/teacher's union collective bargaining" crud.

Is it too much to ask for a darn calendar to be final *before* school
starts?

Marjorie

Yeah, time to send a letter to the school board that this is unacceptable.
You elect the school board. They should be doing better.


Unless of course the school board is appointed...

But it does seem unreasonable to change the calendar with minimal notice
on the parents. I would definitely protest the change. And talk to
other parents about this. You can't be the only irate parent.

Jeanne

On 4 Nov 2003 22:42:15 -0800, (chiam margalit)
wrote:

After that huge thread on early release days and school calendaring,
TODAY, Nov 4th, my kids bring home a *new, revised calendar* creating
another FULL DAY OFF, and 2 more early release days, lengthening the
school year by 2 days. Can you say *really ****ed off?*

It's bad enough that we have a day off next Tuesday, and then 2.5 days
off for Thanksgiving, making this month a full 15.5 days of education
for the entire month. But the letter from the superintendent was so
lame. "School calendar wasn't finalized because of school
committee/teacher's union collective bargaining" crud.

Is it too much to ask for a darn calendar to be final *before* school
starts?

Marjorie

This is unconscionable. The calendar should be finalized before
school starts and sent out before school starts. I don't think that
the bargaining should have anything to do with the dates, though it
might have to do with the number of days off.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003, Bruce and Jeanne wrote:

Cathy Kearns wrote:


"chiam margalit" wrote in message
om...
After that huge thread on early release days and school calendaring,
TODAY, Nov 4th, my kids bring home a *new, revised calendar* creating
another FULL DAY OFF, and 2 more early release days, lengthening the
school year by 2 days. Can you say *really ****ed off?*

It's bad enough that we have a day off next Tuesday, and then 2.5 days
off for Thanksgiving, making this month a full 15.5 days of education
for the entire month. But the letter from the superintendent was so
lame. "School calendar wasn't finalized because of school
committee/teacher's union collective bargaining" crud.

Is it too much to ask for a darn calendar to be final *before* school
starts?

Marjorie

Yeah, time to send a letter to the school board that this is unacceptable.
You elect the school board. They should be doing better.


Unless of course the school board is appointed...

Not sure what this will accomplish unless it is to tell the board
you want them to settle on the teachers' contract regardless of issues
raised just so they can settle in time to get a calendar out.

Contract negotiations sometimes go quickly. Sometimes they take months.
I've worked thru more than one year without a contract yet signed.

Meanwhile, one of the things that can usually be negotiated is staff
development and training. Sounds as if the teachers negotiated additional
training in this district. They may or may not have have good reasons
for that.



But it does seem unreasonable to change the calendar with minimal notice
on the parents.

How minimal is the notice?

"Joni Rathbun" wrote in message
...

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003, Bruce and Jeanne wrote:

Cathy Kearns wrote:


"chiam margalit" wrote in message
om...
After that huge thread on early release days and school calendaring,
TODAY, Nov 4th, my kids bring home a *new, revised calendar*
creating
another FULL DAY OFF, and 2 more early release days, lengthening the
school year by 2 days. Can you say *really ****ed off?*

It's bad enough that we have a day off next Tuesday, and then 2.5
days
off for Thanksgiving, making this month a full 15.5 days of
education
for the entire month. But the letter from the superintendent was so
lame. "School calendar wasn't finalized because of school
committee/teacher's union collective bargaining" crud.

Is it too much to ask for a darn calendar to be final *before*
school
starts?

Marjorie

Yeah, time to send a letter to the school board that this is
unacceptable.
You elect the school board. They should be doing better.


Unless of course the school board is appointed...

Not sure what this will accomplish unless it is to tell the board
you want them to settle on the teachers' contract regardless of issues
raised just so they can settle in time to get a calendar out.

That's their job. That's what they were elected to do. If they
cannot settle on the teacher's contract in a timely manner they
deserve to be voted out. A few years back the contract negotiations
took long enough that the public, the parents, became aware of
them. At that point recall petition were being drawn up, and the
negotiations finished very quickly.


Contract negotiations sometimes go quickly. Sometimes they take months.
I've worked thru more than one year without a contract yet signed.

If I were a parent in that district I wouldn't stand for that. A minor
problem would be the contract changes the school schedule. A
major problem would be a teachers strike. If the teachers are being
reasonable there is no reason this shouldn't be taken care of quickly.


Meanwhile, one of the things that can usually be negotiated is staff
development and training. Sounds as if the teachers negotiated additional
training in this district. They may or may not have have good reasons
for that.



But it does seem unreasonable to change the calendar with minimal notice
on the parents.

How minimal is the notice?

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:10:39 -0800, Joni Rathbun
wrote:

Meanwhile, one of the things that can usually be negotiated is staff
development and training. Sounds as if the teachers negotiated additional
training in this district. They may or may not have have good reasons
for that.

However, the training can be tacked on to the end of the year rather
than calling for early release days to accomplish it. There really is
no excuse for a school board or a teachers union to make life
difficult for parents after the school year has begun on an issue of
training, imho.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

x-no-archive:yes toto wrote:

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:10:39 -0800, Joni Rathbun
wrote:

Meanwhile, one of the things that can usually be negotiated is staff
development and training. Sounds as if the teachers negotiated additional
training in this district. They may or may not have have good reasons
for that.

However, the training can be tacked on to the end of the year rather
than calling for early release days to accomplish it. There really is
no excuse for a school board or a teachers union to make life
difficult for parents after the school year has begun on an issue of
training, imho.

If they did that, they'd have to pay the teachers extra. As it is,
teachers work unpaid overtime at the end of school getting their
classrooms cleaned up, and inventorying books and equipment and doing
report cards. They are not paid for the summer when school is out
(and it doesn't count for retirement either). So some of them get
summer jobs or have summer classes that they need to take and it would
not be helpful to have the year extended.


grandma Rosalie

x-no-archive:yes toto wrote:

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 15:10:39 -0800, Joni Rathbun
wrote:

Meanwhile, one of the things that can usually be negotiated is staff
development and training. Sounds as if the teachers negotiated additional
training in this district. They may or may not have have good reasons
for that.

However, the training can be tacked on to the end of the year rather
than calling for early release days to accomplish it. There really is
no excuse for a school board or a teachers union to make life
difficult for parents after the school year has begun on an issue of
training, imho.

Well, if the district tacks on days at the end of the school year,
they will have to pay the teachers additional days. In our district,
you can figure for 11,000 teachers. A couple days would be in the
millions. Hopefully people are paying attention when the district
sends home those flyers reminding them to vote for the next levy
so they can pay for those extra days

Also, I know many people plan vacations based on the last
day of school. So changing the end date could make things difficult
for people too.