{"id":237,"date":"2014-02-19T00:42:09","date_gmt":"2014-02-19T00:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/?p=237"},"modified":"2016-08-11T04:06:03","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T04:06:03","slug":"severe-winter-snow-school-on-saturday-in-fort-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/?p=237","title":{"rendered":"Severe Winter = Snow = School on Saturday in Fort Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ba160f929fbce6200e2d344544920ede\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At Monday\u2019s BOE meeting on February 10, 2013, the Board members brought attention to the current crisis in our schools.\u00a0\u00a0 CBS News and other media outlets attended, not just because of \u201cBridgegate\u201d, but because the same crisis facing Fort Lee is affecting schools across the nation.\u00a0 For lack of a better title, let\u2019s call this the National School Snow Crisis of 2014.<\/p>\n

To be clear, the NSSC is an artificial crisis created by inflexible regulations regarding school days and state funding.\u00a0 \u00a0Prior to researching this topic, I was under the impression that federal law was involved, but it appears that 180 days per year is the mandated requirement by most State Legislatures in the United States and that there is no federal mandate.\u00a0\u00a0 This 180 day requirement forces school districts to accommodate inclement weather conditions or extraordinary events that force school closings, e.g. snow; hurricanes; power outages; etc.<\/p>\n

For the School year 2013-2014, Fort Lee allocated \u201conly two (2) days\u201d for snow closings\u201d.\u00a0 According to Superintendent Paul Saxton, standard allocation would be \u201cfour (4) snow days per year”.\u00a0\u00a0 This reduction was a result of internal problems.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fort Lee schools opened late as a result of delays in construction projects.\u00a0 At the end of the current school year, a second construction project is scheduled to begin, so there was not a lot of wiggle room in the schedule.\u00a0 In the prior school year, one of the school vacation weeks was cancelled and the BOE did not wish to incur public wrath by doing it two years in a row.\u00a0 In past years, we have not had a major problem with snow days, so it was a calculated risk to provide for only two snow days.\u00a0 (Of course, had someone bothered to consult the Old Farmer\u2019s Almanac for the winter of 2014, they would have noticed a prediction of prohibitively cold conditions and major snowstorms).<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

At the BOE meeting there was an open forum, first with comments by Board members with the floor then opened to comments from community members.\u00a0\u00a0 Since the number one alternative to the problem appeared to be opening the schools and having Saturday classes in March and perhaps April, this was the number one topic of discussion.\u00a0\u00a0 Issues were raised regarding the effect Saturday classes might have on the recreational sports programs, the Korean Schools classes, Synagogue services, etc.\u00a0 Many of the Board members were extremely sympathetic to these issues and were more than willing to look at any other viable alternatives.<\/p>\n

The BOE members addressed the situation appropriately, by considering all possible options:<\/p>\n

(1) Saturday classes, half days to fulfill the requirement.\u00a0 At this point, it appears that a minimum of four Saturdays, two in March and two in April would be required.<\/p>\n

(2) Taking days out the vacation weeks. This was dismissed rather quickly for two reasons. This week was the first vacation week, which had already been reduced to three days. If anyone had made plans, there would have been no possibility of changing them at this late date. The timing would have been horrific, offending many community members.\u00a0 Last year, the April vacation was lost, so BOE members were extremely reluctant to curtail those days for a second year.\u00a0 Ms. Capalbo, head of the teachers\u2019 union, also expressed a preference for Saturdays, as many teachers were looking forward to the April vacation week.\u00a0 Note: several other communities selected reducing vacation days in lieu of Saturday classes.<\/p>\n

(3) Memorial Day or Good Friday.\u00a0\u00a0 BOE member David Sarnoff brought up the issue of the importance of the Memorial Day Holiday and the fact that Fort Lee was having a parade this year for the first time in many years.\u00a0\u00a0 As for Good Friday, it was decided that it would be very offensive to the Christian community and therefore could not be considered a realistic option.<\/p>\n

(4) There was discussion about the possibility of taking half days and extending them into full days. \u00a0However, under N.J. State law that would not resolve the problem.\u00a0\u00a0 The school system gets a full day credit for half days, so there would be no benefit to this approach.<\/p>\n

(5)\u00a0 The final option appeared to be adding additional days at the end of the school year to the calendar. This decision would have numerous, extremely complicated ramifications.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The graduation ceremonies for all the schools would have to be rescheduled, as a school apparently could lose funding if graduation is held before the 180th day of school.\u00a0\u00a0 It would affect children going to summer camps, several of which begin immediately after the school year. Finally, the school construction project for summer 2014 is scheduled to begin immediately after the last day of school.\u00a0 Delays in construction projects could again lead to a delayed school opening in the fall of 2014.<\/p>\n

Although certainly not a palatable option, it appeared that Saturday classes remained as the most viable option.\u00a0\u00a0 At the end of the meeting, the attendees felt very certain that this would be the Board decision.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

After the meeting, Helen Yoon, who, in my personal opinion and those of several of my colleagues, stands as one of the least productive BOE members in recorded history, offered her two cents worth.\u00a0 She responded derisively to the issues regarding recreational sports programs, declaring them totally nonsensical, as this issue \u201cwas about education\u201d.\u00a0 (Of course Ms. Yoon\u2019s opinions are rendered totally irrelevant based on the fact that she has no children in sports programs or in the school system.)<\/p>\n

The truth of the situation is that this crisis has \u201cabsolutely nothing to do with education\u201d<\/b>.\u00a0 This situation has to do with \u201cthe potential loss of school funding\u201d<\/b>.\u00a0 The BOE members are not the culprits here, they are actually the victims.\u00a0 They may be blamed for Saturday classes or reduction of vacation days, or whatever other actions they may deem necessary, but they will simply have made the only decisions that could have been made under circumstances and parameters given.\u00a0\u00a0Schools must be open in every New Jersey Community in New Jersey for a minimum of 180 days or State funding may be lost.<\/b>\u00a0 The children of a community in New Jersey must have a school open for 180 days or State funding may be lost. 1<\/b><\/p>\n

So who is he culprit?\u00a0 How about considering President Obama or the king of Bridgegate, Governor Chris Christie?\u00a0\u00a0 Exactly what role does each play in this crisis?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s first consider that this crisis is not restricted to New Jersey.\u00a0 Georgia is having the worst ice storms in recent history.\u00a0\u00a0 Blizzard conditions are prevalent throughout the nation, stranding thousands of airline passengers as flights are cancelled on a daily basis.\u00a0\u00a0 Cities are unable to properly plow roads because of lack of preparation, salt shortages, and a general lack of equipment to face a winter from Hell.\u00a0 Federal funds are being allocated nationally as city after city faces unexpectedly severe weather conditions.<\/p>\n

What about the school situation in these stricken areas?\u00a0\u00a0 Common sense would indicate that there must be hundreds of communities across the United States finding themselves in the same predicament as Fort Lee, New Jersey<\/b>.\u00a0 Since we are dealing with State regulations, what could President Obama do? The answer is almost too obvious.\u00a0\u00a0 Assuming he is even aware of the situation (which would probably require his watching the 11 O\u2019clock News), he could reach out to all the governors across the nation and request that they consider a one-time suspension of the 180 day rule!\u00a0 Naturally, the governors, anxious to please their constituents, might consider this simple gesture that would cost the state absolutely nothing and would certainly be a quick upgrade of their general popularity.\u00a0 Since Barack says he is such a big advocate of our children, the United States\u2019 \u201cgreatest resource\u201d, one would hope that he would wish to mitigate this crisis.\u00a0 But to date, I have neither seen a news report or one article regarding President Obama on this issue.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s consider Governor Christie\u2019s position on this \u201ccrisis\u201d.\u00a0 Based on recent news reports, it would seem that our good governor believes that American students are falling behind the rest of the world.\u00a0 On January 14, 2014, Governor Christie held a news conference, espousing his views on lengthening the school day and extending the school year.\u00a0 So it is possible that it is unrealistic to expect him to support any petition to shorten the 180 days in 2014 to possibly 176<\/b>. \u00a0\u00a0Note: It is reasonably certain that he would not meet much resistance from the legislature.<\/i>\u00a0 As for the net effect on our children\u2019s education, it would be hard to envision a major impact on a child\u2019s education if, in any one given school year, four days were lost.www.northjerseynews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Governor Christie and President Obama should be given failing grades for their total disregard of this crisis.\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0 Obama is too busy with his hopelessly inept peace negotiations in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, and about a dozen other countries.\u00a0 And Christie is too busy defending himself against \u201cBridgegate\u201d.\u00a0 Personally, it is my belief that since Christie \u201cowes Fort Lee\u201d for his obvious abuses, maybe Fort Lee should get a special \u201cGubernatorial Disposition\u201d, sort of like a Papal Disposition.<\/b>\u00a0 Christie should immediately reduce Fort Lee\u2019s 180 days to 176 as atonement for his sins.\u00a0 Maybe then the Fort Lee community members will reconsider forgiving him for his transgressions.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 StateNote<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/b>examines the number of instructional days required in each state. While state requirements vary on the number of instructional days and hours in the year, the majority of states set the school year at 180 days (30 states). Eleven states set the minimum number of instructional days between 160 and 179 days, two states set the minimum above 180 days (Kansas and Ohio) and eight states currently do not set a minimum number of instructional days.<\/b>\u00a0<\/b> <\/b>http:\/\/www.ecs.org\/<\/a><\/b>\"ba160f929fbce6200e2d344544920ede\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Monday\u2019s BOE meeting on February 10, 2013, the Board members brought attention to the current crisis in our schools.\u00a0\u00a0 CBS News and other media outlets attended, not just because of \u201cBridgegate\u201d, but because the same crisis facing Fort Lee is affecting schools across the nation.\u00a0 For lack of a better title, let\u2019s call this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239,"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pearlsofwisdom.guru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}