Framingham Public Schools Call Snow Day #7

First published at 6:05 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 10 (and sent out as a breaking news alert.)

Updated for the Tuesday 6 a.m. newsletter.

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There will be no school for Framingham Public School students on Tuesday, Feb. 10. This means Framingham is having snow day #7. If the 2014-15, Framingham Public Schools calendar stays as it is, the last day of school will now be Friday, June 26.

Framingham Patch spoke to Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott via phone just after Governor Charlie Baker’s 5 p.m. Monday press conference in which he declared a state of Emergency for several Massachusetts counties, including Middlesex County.

Scott said based on the Governor’s declaration and input from Framingham DPW, he would be calling no school for students on Tuesday, and offices would be closed for staff. He said calls and emails to parents would go out at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

Framingham is 27 square miles, with lots of roads and 15 public schools, compared to say neighboring Ashland that is only 13 square miles and has just 4 public schools.

Plus there are 90 miles of sidewalks to clear, said Framingham DPW Director Peter Sellers.

Plows began clearing the sidewalks early Monday, but the plows can only clear a quarter to a half-mile of sidewalk per hour, Sellers told Framingham Patch.

Sellers said he has had 60 town vehicles and another 40 contracted plows out on the roads since this latest storm began. He said some plow drivers have been working 36 hours without a break.

Town Manager Bob Halpin said last week the “first step in recovery from a major snowstorm is to widen out roadways and to clear roadway intersections - particularly those with high snow banks and decreased sight distances. As a purely practical matter, the plowing of sidewalks cannot possibly begin until roadways are widened because to do otherwise would simply put more snow right back in place on the sidewalk”

But Halpin stressed that “second only to the mission of public safety and protection of life and property, the safe and timely reopening of schools is among the highest priorities of the Town and its DPW.”

Monday afternoon, town leaders met to discuss the latest snow recovery efforts and made a recommendation to Superintendent Scott on their opinion if it was safe to open schools on Tuesday.

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Gov. Baker declared Massachusetts in a state of emergency Monday night, after the MBTA announced there would be no subway or commuter rail service Tuesday.

Scott said Monday evening it was too soon to decide if the district would look at using April vacation days to make up these 7 days of school.

The Framingham School Committee in approving the calendar in spring 2014, said it would allow for snow days to made up during April vacation week, if the district exceeded 5 snow days.

Scott said his leadership team would meet this week and brainstorm options and put forth a recommendation after that.

Framingham Patch published an article on Feb. 3 asking parents their thoughts on eliminating April vacation days to make up for snow days.

With Framingham Public Schools closed. St Bridget School and the McAuliffe Charter School will also be closed.

Marian High and Keefe Technical also on Monday night called snow days for Tuesday.

Framingham State University also said, with the Governor’s declaration, it would be closed on Tuesday.

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Last week, Mitchell Chester, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary in Massachusetts said he was reluctant to approve waivers of the 180-day policy for school districts, until all options, including having school through June 30, giving up February or April vacation days or even having school on Saturdays, were exhausted.

Boston had no school on Monday - which pushed its last day of school to June 30. (Massachusetts schools can not be in session on July 1, as it starts a new fiscal year.) Boston, also, has another snow day on Tuesday, which means it will need to look at other options beyond June to make up its snow days. The school district is not alone.

“Making up missed days can be done in several ways. School districts may decide to cancel or shorten the April vacation period, convert scheduled professional development days into school days for students, hold school on Saturday, keep school open on Good Friday, or add days later in June beyond the originally scheduled last day of school,” wrote Chesterin his last weekly newsletter to school superintendents.

Yesterday, the Christa McAuliffe Charter School in Framingham, which is a regional public middle school, posted a survey for parents and staff on its Facebook page asking for input on options how to make up its 8 snow days.

The school received more than 115 responses. The school however, as a charter school, does not have a teachers union nor an elected school committee, so there are less steps needed to approve a school calendar change.

The Framingham Public Schools calendar must be voted on and approved by the 7-member Framingham School Committee. Scott and his team can make recommendations. Parents and the union can provide input but the final decision is made by the School Committee.

The Massachusetts DESE does have a “a new waiver process that allows districts to propose alternative, innovative calendars to support and enhance student learning. In the case of proposals for longer school days in lieu of the required 180 days, we will need to see details on how the longer day would be structured, how it fits with teacher contracts, and how it would benefit students,” wrote Chester in his latest newsletter.

Some school districts are considering that.

Two parent-run Facebook page about the Framingham Public Schools on Monday evening began running surveys and asking for input from its members - mostly parents but some members are Framingham school staff - on how they would like to make up the 7 snow days. Both Facebook pages - are closed to the public. Posts can only be viewed by members only. One site has about 1,400 members and the other 500 members. There are 8,000-plus students in the Framingham Public School district.

Framingham Teachers Union co-president Sarah McKeon said union leadership has already had discussions with Scott and central administration on ways to make up the 7 snow days.

McKeon said using April vacation and extending school to the end of June both pose issues for some teachers and staff, who have already made vactation, wedding and other family plans. She said the union is working cooperatively with administration to come up with workable options.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts not only has a 180-day rule for students it also has an hourly rule too.

The only exception to the rule is members of the Class of 2015. Graduating seniors do not need to attend school for 180 days.

From the State’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Schools web site, here are the rules on the 180-day policy.

The Student Learning Time regulations include a provision (603 CMR 27.06) that allows the commissioner to waive the 180 day requirement when an emergency or extraordinary circumstance forces the closing of one or more of the district schools.

To clarify when districts will be expected to make up lost time, how much time will need to be made up, and when waivers will be considered, we have established the following guidelines:

1. All days lost to health, weather, or safety emergencies between the first day of the school year and March 31 must be made up by rescheduling full school days to ensure a 180-day school year.
2. All days lost to health, weather, or safety emergencies between April 1 and June 1 must be made up to ensure a 180-day school year or at least until the district has reached its previously-scheduled 185th day, whichever comes first. If all five snow days have been used prior to this point, the district is not required to schedule additional school days.
3. Districts will not be expected to make up any days lost to health, weather, or safety emergencies that occur after June 1.

Due to the three snowstorms in the last three weeks, the DESE has made adjustments to state testing:

• The February MCAS Biology test window has been extended until Feb. 10 for schools closed during the blizzard.
• The ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) testing window was scheduled to close Feb. 13, but ESE is allowing a continuation of testing between Feb. 23 and Feb. 27 for schools that need it. Schools should continue to make every effort to complete the testing of their ELL students and ship their materials by Feb. 13 if possible.
• The MCAS spring test administration training sessions scheduled for Feb. 4 in Marlborough and Feb. 5 in Taunton have been rescheduled to 8:30 a.m. to noon on Feb. 25 at the Marlborough Best Western Royal Plaza and Feb. 26 at the Taunton Holiday Inn.