BOE Mulls February Break

The Board of Education has delayed the decision on whether the four days the district lost due to recovery efforts following Tropical Storm Irene should be made up at the end of the year or by cancelling some part of February break.

The board will likely make the decision at its Sept. 20 meeting and use the time in between to hear what parents have to say about the decision, officials said.

At issue was whether the four days should be taken from the Feb. 21-24 break or put to the end of the year or some combination of the two.

While a couple of members – such as Andy Buzzi and David Nanavaty – supported taking at least some of the days from February break, others – such as Debbie Leidlein – were against that proposal, saying that the district had already published its calendar and policies well in advance and that parents had made their plans on the supposition the district would adhere to the policy.

The policy would have the district make up the days at the end of the year.

But officials were concerned that they might have to contend with more snow days that also would have to be made up later on in the year. Depending on the number of snow days and when they occur, the district's policy calls for those days to be made up at the end of the year, or possibly even during spring break.

"I was not in favor of adding the February break," Leidlein said, referring to meetings many months earlier when the board voted to keep a February break on the school calendar. "(But) we did publish a calendar. And we did state in our published calendar that we were going to observe the protocol...We need to take that seriously."

At the same time, officials said the tropical storm was an extraordinary case that parents would understand might require a departure from protocol.

"Our policy was meant to be applied when we are sitting here in February," Buzzi said. "We came out of the box this year with four days out."

In addition, if the board were to adjust the calendar due to the situation, it was doing so early enough.

"If we are going to do it, to make an adjustment, then I think it would be appropriate to make an adjustment at the beginning of the year," Buzzi said.

The other concern was with lengthening the amount of time students would have to be in school during June when some of the buildings become unbearably hot because they are not air conditioned. By cancelling some part of February break, that would keep the number of school days in June to a minimum, some board members said.

In the end, officials – some of whom were torn by the arguments on both sides – decided to delay the decision in order to solicit more input from parents.