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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Updated: Reconvening Calendar Committee is a Good Idea

A newly revised version of the draft calendar was released this morning by Central Office.  It includes a second day off for Rosh Hashanah.

The 2010-2011 school calendar is slated for a vote by the BOE at Tuesday night's meeting (See the proposed calendar below).  Next year's calendar is very similar to this year's calendar. 

At the Dec. 15th Board meeting,  Emily Aguilar, PTO Council Vice President of Administration reminded the Board during the public comments that a Calendar Committee of parents, administrators and teachers had been formed last spring to address the upcoming calendar.   The Committee was set up by former superintendent Sal Corda as an advisory committee and met several times in April and May 2009.  They discussed the start and end dates of the school year, holidays, vacation scheduling and shortened days, according to Ms. Aguilar who was member of the committee.

The group was supposed to present a report to the Board of its recommendations at the end of the school year, but just before the group could come up with its final recommendations,  Dr. Corda resigned, and a lot of good work was set aside.

At the Board meeting, Ms Aguilar asked that the calendar committee be given the courtesy of finishing the work that they had started.  

Sue Haynie, current Board Member and former president of PTOC, also urged the Board to recognize the hard work of this committee and suggested reconvening the Committee before making a final decision on the calendar.

 Some of the questions raised by the committee included:
  • Why do 9th, 11th and 12th graders have shortened days during the CAPT tests?
  • Why are there 5 half-days at the end of the school year?
  • Are there other ways to conduct professional development days, other than during the school year?
  • Why do all the schools have to have a half-day when the elementary schools have conferences?
Prior to the formation of the Calendar Committe,  the PTOC Board (of which Ms. Haynie was president) did a thorough investigation into the NPS's calendar and compared it with the calendars of neighboring towns and cities.  The findings of this study can be found on the PTOC Website.  Here are a couple of Q &A s from the PTOC document that I found particularly interesting.


How many hours of instruction do Norwalk and its Surrounding Communities have? : 
Darien-999/hrs elementary; 982/hrs middle school; 1,008/hrs high school
New Canaan-1,001/hrs elementary; 1,012/hrs middle school; 990/hrs high school
Norwalk-953/hrs elementary; 1,001/hrs middle school; 998/hrs high school.
Stamford-995/hrs elementary; 1,010/hrs middle school; 1,004/hrs high school
Wesport-1,032/hrs elementary; 1,019/hrs middle school; 972/hrs high school
Wilton-992/hrs elementary; 974/hrs middle school; 1,007/hrs high school  
 
What ‘Holiday Days’ did Norwalk and Norwalk’s Surrounding Communities 
not have off for the 2008/2009 & 2009/2010 School Year?:
Darien: Did not take Veteran’s Day; only 1 day for Rosh Hashanah (‘08/09);
NewCanaan: Did not take Veteran’s Day; only 1 day for Rosh Hashanah (‘08/09);
Norwalk: Took all Federal Legal Holidays,  Good Friday, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah—(2 days for Rosh Hashanah ‘08/09)
Stamford: ‘08/09-Same as Norwalk; ‘09/10 not available;
Westport: Did not take Veteran’s Day or Columbus Day; only 1 day for Rosh Hashanah (‘08/09);
Wilton: Did not take Veteran’s Day; only 1 day for Rosh Hashanah (‘08/09)
 
It was a good step to include parents in the formulation of the calendar. Many parents, especially working parents, have to find childcare or leave their children home alone when school is not in session.

Additionally,  national education reform efforts are emphasizing that students should receive more hours of instruction, including longer days and shorter summer vacations.

Since the State Department of Education allows school districts until June 30th to finalize their calendar, the BOE should consider reconvening the calendar committee, under the direction of Central Office. Even if the calendar is not finalized for another couple of months having outstanding issues addressed by a committee of key stakeholders including parents sets a good precedent.
Revised 2010-11 NPS Calendar
Posted by Moina Noor
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15 comments:

  1. Interesting, but hardly surprising, is how Norwalk has the fewest annual hours of elementary instruction (953) of the communities listed on the PTOC website, and 38 hours less than the next lowest (Wilton, 992).
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  2. Oops, I meant to type 39 hours, not 38!
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  3. lower in elementary, but higher in middle and high school.
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  4. It should be unacceptable that Norwalk has less instruction hours in elementary school...what do the other towns do differently to have so many more hours I wonder?
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  5. Beth WeinsteinJan 4, 2010 02:22 PM
    Having two days off on Rosh Hashanah is impermissible under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. There is no secular purpose served in having a Jewish religious holiday be a day for school closures in Norwalk. There are not enough Jewish students or teachers to cause a high absenteeism rate.

    Additionally why are other faiths not given the same respect? Why for instance shouldn't the schools be closed on the Muslim holiday of Eid?

    There is a hierarchy of religions being set up and this violated the Constitution. Roshashah is purely religious and not like Easter which the courts have determined as become securlarized or part of a Spring Break that is expected by parents and students.

    The schools should not be closed on Rosh Hashashanah. There is 16 hours of lost school time right there.
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  6. Beth WeinsteinJan 4, 2010 02:28 PM
    Sorry for my several mangled spellings of Rosh Hashanah. Long day and typing very quickly.
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  7. Does anyone know how the elementary hours were calculated?
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  8. As a Jew it makes me very uncomfortable for schools all across the country, not just Norwalk, to close schools on the Jewish High Holidays.

    If people want to observe their religion I believe that they should do so without inconveniencing others. All of Norwalk's children shouldn't have to miss school because my co-religionists are celebrating the High Holidays.

    Just ask yourself how you would feel if the Muslims in this town asked for their two days. We couldn't possibly deny them after we've recognized one religious minority.

    If NPS wants to give us Jews a day off (at the beginning of the school year no less!) then declare it a professional development day. That way at least we kill two birds with one stone.
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  9. While I appreciate the comparisons with districts in the area, a comparison with New York City's elementary school calendar is also revealing. First off, it should be noted that the longer school day in NYC, as well as the June calendar, are the result of negotiations between the city and the United Federation of Teachers.

    This June, Norwalk teachers and students will have 11 full days and 5 half days. NYC, during that month, will have 17 full days and 2 half days.

    Also, a typical five-day school week in NYC for teachers and roughly 90% of elementary school students from grades 1 to 5 is 173 minutes longer than a typical 5-day week in Norwalk. This extension of the school week, I must again stress, was negotiated, and teachers received increased pay for working the longer hours.

    One last point: NYC does not follow the traditional 180 day school year, with extra snow days held in reserve in June. The calendar varies, based primarily on the Jewish holidays, and can be anywhere from 180 to 185 days.
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  10. Thank you, Mr. Kimmel. Very enlightening information. What is your opinion of the situation in Norwalk? Is this another instance of the teacher's union being the tail that wags the dog at the expense our children's education? That is my opinion. I am hoping that our next superintendent will get control of the union and stop it from holding us all ransom.
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  11. Regarding Norwalk, I believe the school day is too short and there are too many half days throughout the year.

    As I indicated above, for June alone Norwalk kids have 13.5 days of school(including the half days), while NYC students have 18 days. That's a difference of 4.5 days. Multiply that by six (kindergarten through fifth grade) and NYC kids go to school -- in June alone -- 27 more days than Norwalk kids during their elementary school years.

    Also, when you consider the longer school day in NYC for first through fifth graders, NYC kids go to school well over 100 more days than their Norwalk counterparts over the five year period.

    Again I stress: These types of calendar adjustments should be part of negotiations between the city and the NFT.
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  12. Don't forget mid-year exams at the high schools (not sure about middle schools) because those are half days, too.
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  13. Poster January 4th, 3:20pm--All school hours, including the elementary hours, are calculated using Form #ED165, ‘Connecticut School Data Report’. Part of Form #ED165 is ‘Schedule 3 -Supplement School Calendar Worksheet’ and that form is used so that districts can account for lunch, recess, passing time, 1/2 days, etc. The State receives the ‘hours of instruction’ data from all Connecticut districts, along with lots of other information, and uses it to produce the ‘Connecticut Strategic School Profiles’ each year. Page 5 of the 2007/08 Strategic School Profile (the most current year online) lists the ‘Hours of Instruction Per Year’ for each district. See: http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/der/ssp/dist0708/district.htm
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  14. Half days of school are a waste of our children's time and our teachers' talents. The days are spent scrambling, rushing from topic to topic, shortened lunches and music and art classes turning into movie hours. Since when is watching a Disney movie an approved form of education? It's a babysitting tool. A half day of school is as disruptive to working parents as an unscheduled day off. Three whole, focused days are better than six half days. Our family will likely begin summer vacation travel a week early if the school year will end on a weak note with a series of half day pandemonium and another showing of "The Incredibles".
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  15. I wish someone would address the insanely early start time for the high schools. Adolescents are biologically programmed by their endocrine systems to sleep 11pm to 8am. School systems around the country that have switched to later start times for high schools have seen test scores go up within a year's time, not to mention student attendance. It means juggling schedules, but the results are worth it. This issue has been covered by lots of educational scholars and mainstream media (NY Times, Washington Post, NPR, etc); I hope it will gain some traction here in Norwalk.
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