From Harford County Public Schools:
Today, State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lillian Lowery approved the request made by Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) for a three-day waiver of the 180-day school year requirement. HCPS has been closed a total of six days this school year, three days for Hurricane Sandy and three days for inclement weather. The three-day waiver request was made for the school closures caused by local power outages and damages as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
Due to the effort put forth by HCPS to make-up three of those days in April by making April 3 (previously a spring break day) and April 29 and 30 (previously teacher professional development days) regular school days, the waiver was granted. As such, three days will be removed from the end of the school year. Unless additional modifications to the school calendar become necessary, the last day for Kindergarten – 11th grade students is Tuesday, June 11, and the last day for teachers and 10-month instructional support employees is Friday, June 14.
As a taxpayer, I think this is ridiculous. They built 8 days into the calendar for this purpose, but only ended up using 6. Why is there a need for a waiver when the last day of June 14th was already earlier than the original last possible day of June 17th? Basically what has happened here is that there are 177 days of school for the price of 180.
cuz da kidz wunt 2 play wit da xbox mo
What’s wrong hcpsgrad, mad because you lose three days of free baby sitting?
Tried! That is hilarious and true on so many levels
No, I don’t lose “three free days of free babysitting.” I send my children to school to learn, and actually have a little more respect for their teachers than you apparently do.
I am so tired of the school system speaking out of one side of their mouths about “precious instruction time”, and then cutting out 3 days because it suits them. And as taxpayers, you should all be unhappy with this – you are paying for 180 days of instruction and you are not getting it.
Amen! I am with you 100%.
I agree with you but the public does it too. Go back and look at the comments on the posts about each snow day added.
It is a no win situation. Make kids make up snow days, parents complain. Waive them, the parents complain. Discipline their kids, parents complain. Let them run wild, parents complain. You can’t make parents happy these days.
The answer is Reggie – do the right thing all the time. The right thing isn’t always popular. Sometimes you have to defend yourself, but it is always “the right thing” to do. Public education has become so politicized that it’s impossible to even talk about the problems with the system, curriculum, administration, teachers, students, parents – there is no topic that is okay to touch without explosive criticism. The problem is, “the right thing” requires a basis and some sort of moral ground …and that too will come under fire. All I can say is that there are many summer vacations that were far more memorable than the school years – there is much to learn and do in the world that does not involve school. So start your vacation on the designated day and enjoy – and let the kids enjoy whatever years of “freedom” that they have before bigger responsibilities clip their wings.
Agreed.
Reggie, The school system isn’t there to make every parent happy all of the time. It is there to educate your children.