East Granby School Board to Hold Special Meeting Tonight

The East Granby Board of Education will hold a special meeting this evening at 6:30 p.m. to discuss revising its current policy concerning changes to the school year calendar.

The policy currently states that “Emergency days will be taken at the discretion of the Board of Education at the end of the school year in June through June 30 and/or from Spring recess in April.”

The October snowstorm that caused major power outages throughout the town resulted in five days of classes being canceled.

As such, the school board is seeking to make up those school days by, at least in part, having four days of February recess be in-school days.

The other time would be made up by either taking a day from spring recess or having school on days previously scheduled off, such as Dec. 23, Jan. 16 or an added day in June.

Those changes would require first a change in the school board’s emergency-day policy.

Parents recently expressed that the school board decided to go forward with in-service days scheduled on Monday, Nov. 7 and Tuesday, Nov. 8, despite the lost class time. Among the issues was the perceived lack of communication from the school board on the rationale for going forward with the in-service days in light of the missed time, which resulted in a shortened, two-day school week with Veterans Day falling on that Friday.

If a policy change is agreed upon at tonight’s meeting at the school district’s offices at 33 Turkey Hills Road, then it would require a second reading at the school board’s regular meeting scheduled for Nov. 28.