Early Dismissal Isn’t

‘Cost Neutral’ To Parents

To the Editor:

The Newtown Board of Education’s decision to implement “early-dismissal” Wednesdays has been described as a cost-neutral “win-win” solution. Teachers gain invaluable professional development time while students are supposedly unaffected courtesy of a five-minute longer school day. But what about parents?

Let’s not pretend this is cost-neutral to those who have to reduce or adjust work hours, hire help, or sacrifice nearly all of their year’s vacation allotment (many have only two weeks a year) to be home on those days. Now multiply that scenario by all the children in the district up through the seventh grade. (The National Safe Kids Campaign recommends no child under the age of 12 be left home unsupervised. While several states have legislation establishing a legal minimum age to be home alone, it appears Connecticut has no such law.) Plus, for those with multiple children just entering the system, you can add up these costs over ten years or more. I’d hardly call that “cost-neutral.”

I understand there may be some mandates for teachers to pursue professional development and like a good “company,” I actually agree we should — to a certain extent — invest in our “employees.” It is in our children’s best interests to have well-educated, passionate, forward-thinking professional teachers. However, I’d like to see the burden balanced a bit more to avoid mass disruptions for the community.

Remember, most of us in the private sector have to fund our professional development using our own personal time and resources. Plus, given the number of weeks teachers have off a year compared to most other professions, why can’t a full week in the summer be dedicated to development? Or, if the goal is more continuous peer-to-peer interaction, take a cue from companies that host “lunch and learn” sessions. One lunch session per week could easily net you the same amount of time.

At a minimum, I challenge the school board to host an open forum with parents to publicly vet the effect of this policy on our taxpayers. If this policy remains in place, the schools need to offer an optional after-school program for working parents (even if we have to pay for it since finding reliable child-care midday/midweek once a month is no small task). Also, in the spirit of transparency, parents should be permitted to observe first-hand, how these sessions are being used to ensure they are worthy of our sacrifices.

Regards,

Aimee Tabor

44 Great Quarter Road, Sandy Hook                         August 6, 2010