Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Waiving school days for weather

Correction: the original post said "class for 187 day." School staffs work 187, but only 177 of those are used for student classes.

By law, Kentucky schools are supposed to hold class for 177 days each school year. Between September wind and January ice, that requirement could mean school runs into June this year. House Bill 322, if it passes, will change the rule for this year only and allow districts to drop up to 10 days of classes. Some potential impacts:
  • 10 days missed days of learning time for students, or maybe 10 days of not-very-good learning time when their hearts are already on vacation.
  • 10 days of other duties for school staff, so that they complete their contracts and earn their full contract pay.
  • A little money saved on buses, supplies, and maybe air-conditioning.
  • A little money gained by having better average attendance, which translated into better SEEK funding.
The issue begs for your comments, so please do share questions and opinions below. (More about how to comment can be found here.)

1 comment:

  1. Also, a little goodwill gained by not upsetting family/student plans (vacations, camps, special classes, etc.) for June -- especially when many families have already been quite stressed. Although I hate to see the instructional days decreased, I realize going into June upsets many apple carts and I am concerned that June days would be a waste.

    ReplyDelete

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