Informal Survey—

Parents Voice Mixed Concerns About School Calendar

By Eliza Hallabeck

The latest Newtown Bee online survey, asking residents to comment on the draft of the school district’s 2011-2012 school calendar as presented to the Board of Education by Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson during its special meeting Thursday, January 6, was available for public participation from Monday January 10, through Monday, January 17. The board postponed passing the calendar during that meeting until more information is presented by Dr Robinson and Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Gejda on certain costs associated with the calendar.

A committee of parents, administrators, and teachers met to work on both the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school calendars, according to Dr Robinson. Only the draft of the 2011-2012 school calendar was presented to the school board January 6, because, Dr Robinson said, the area superintendents are discussing the possibility of creating a regional school calendar for 2012-2013.

The proposed 2011-2012 calendar has teachers starting the school year on August 25 for professional development days, while students will start school on August 30. A full-week February break was also added to the 2011-2012 calendar, a change from this year’s four-day-long weekend from February 18 to 21. This year’s calendar committee also chose to continue having students attend school on Veterans Day and on Columbus Day, Dr Robinson said, because both days have become schoolwide experiences for students.

Last week, The Bee asked residents to share comments and perspectives on the proposed school calendar for its informal online survey at NewtownBee.com.

The unofficial survey collected community responses through comments and multiple choice questions. While members of the Board of Education were invited to participate in the survey along with the rest of the community, the survey was not created in conjunction with the school board and has no formal connection to the board’s consideration of the issue.

Roughly 91 percent of the nearly 250 respondents said they have children in the school district. The survey was designed to be anonymous, and was open for anyone who wished to take it.

Respondents commented most often on the open ended questions “How early is too early for a school year to begin? How late is too late for the school year to end?”, “What changes, if any, would you suggest for the 2011-2012 school calendar?,” and “Should the Early Release Wednesdays for professional development be moved to another day in the week, changed to reflect the individual monthly calendars, or left as they are?”

Early Release

Responses regarding the early release days, scheduled on the first Wednesday of the month in the 2010-2011 school calendar for teachers to hold professional development meetings, varied. Some answered they would like to see the days changed to reflect individual monthly calendars, some responded they would like to see them left as they are, and others said they would like to see the early release days changed to another day in the week. Others had ideas of their own regarding the early release days.

“Why not a full day every other month?” said one respondent. “I don’t accomplish much in a half-day. I know it is hard on the students who have shortened class periods.”

Another said, “They should be scheduled in a thoughtful manner with a concern for what is best for student learning. They should not take place in September, November, December, March and June because of other disruptions to student schedules. When possible, having a half day before vacation, instead of the Wednesday, would make more sense. Another option would be to have full days for teacher in-service every other month.”

And another said, “Professional development is important to me, and I applaud the efforts. If the community wants to pay for it by having the teachers meet on Saturdays or any other time then I say go for it. Having an early release day allows me to schedule doctor/dentist appointments for the children without pulling them out during school hours and without too many conflicts with the after school activities.”

Dr Robinson Responds

Dr Robinson responded to some of the concerns expressed by community members in the survey. The survey had participants commenting about concerns with continuity, consistency, hardship for working parents, classroom time, disruptions., and worry regarding a focus on student learning.

Dr Robinson said some of those concerns were the same ones that led the school district to hold early release days for community develop meetings. Wednesdays were chosen, she said, because of her past experience in other school districts, but the school board may elect to change the timing for the meetings to whatever it may desire.

The early release days, according to Dr Robinson, were not taken into account by the school calendar committee. She also said meeting after school or before school would be problematic for teachers without the early dismissal of school.

If the district were to hold professional development meetings on Saturdays instead, Dr Robinson said, “The cost is about $170 per person in the district.”

Roughly 600 people would attend the event, and Dr Robinson also said the school district cannot make it mandatory for teachers to attend professional development meetings during the weekend.

Regarding expressed concern about whether the professional development is working in the district, Dr Robinson said she has already seen the effects. However, she said, results in student performance will take time to measure, and will not be impacted for a few years. The goal of the early release days for professional development, she said, is to create a greater consistency in education across the district.

Considering                    The Concerns

School board Vice Chair Debbie Leidlein said the school district is not tied to holding professional development time on Wednesdays, and said she supported some mentions in the survey of holding the days on Fridays instead, an idea she also expressed during the school board’s special meeting on January 6.

When looking into the school calendar, Ms Leidlein said the school board will take everyone’s concerns into consideration.

“I think that we definitely have to take the parents into consideration when considering the calendar,” said Ms Leidlein, “but most importantly we have to do what is best for the children concerning the calendar.”

Ms Leidlein said she hears from parents in many different ways; through e-mails, through phone calls, and sometimes she is stopped while walking through the supermarket.

“We want to hear from parents what works, what doesn’t work; comments are always helpful. I’d like to hear more from the teachers also,” she said. “I hear information all the time about what parents would like to see and what they wouldn’t like to see. We have to kind of take it all in. Again, the number one concern has to be what is best for the children.”

February Break

Another topic that drew comments from survey respondents was the addition of a weeklong February break in the 2011-2012 calendar, a change from the four-day-long weekend in this year’s school calendar.

Some respondents said a weeklong February break leads to disruptions and unproductive summer days, while others said they were glad to see the weeklong break return to the calendar.

“We live in New England. Prime ski time,” said one respondent.

Another said, “This comes on the heels of two weeks off for the holidays. A long weekend is sufficient.”

Some said the week break gives students something to look forward to.

“I am glad to see the February break return,” said another respondent. “We enjoy the time as a family and feel guilty taking our child out of school. It must be difficult on the teachers to have some kids take off before/after the weekend or at other times. It also gives the schools a chance to ‘germ out’ and the students a mental break before all the state testing they have.”

Others disagreed with the idea that a break allows students a time away from germs and expressed concern the break is unnecessary.

Dr Robinson said when considering the February break, this year’s calendar committee was also divided, but, in the end, the group decided adding the break back would avoid student absences that have broken up classroom time in the past. She said parents take students out of school either before or after the weekend, and that leads to scheduling difficulties for teachers.

When asked what they would do if they were in charge of creating a school calendar, respondents said they would take a wide range of concerns into account.

“The children need more school days,” said one. “That should be the driving force behind the schedule. Please do not tell me we would need to pay the teachers more to have more school days — they are off more than any other profession.”

Another said, “What is educationally best for the students. After reading opinions published in the Bee, it is obvious that parents use school as daycare. The calendar should be what is best for student learning, not for parental or teacher preferences.”

And another respondent said, “The amount of time my children spend with substitute teachers is absolutely absurd. Teacher meetings during school time needs to be curtailed.”

Minimizing interruptions and concerns for working parents were mentioned a number of times by respondents.

Others said they would take every concern into consideration, like the respondent who said, “All — I would take input from all constituents and it would be done openly with transparency.”

The Board of Education’s next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, January 25.

To view full results from The Newtown Bee’s school calendar survey, visit NewtownBee.com.