During the Feb. 7 Board of Education (BOE) meeting, it was determined that as a result of the five snow days this year, the Feb. 28 Staff Development Day will be removed and the school year will be reduced to 181 days. The Board decided that in the event of any more school closings, the school year would be first reduced to 180 days, then school days would be added on June 23, 24, April 18, 19, 20 and 21, for each additional school closing.
This motion was passed with four board members in favor and three opposed. Board members reached this decision after discussing the implications each removed day would have on students, faculty and family.
Controversy arose among members of the board regarding the importance of the Feb. 28 Staff Development Day for all Westport Public Schools.
“We could use the Staff Development Day. I am reluctant to remove it because we have a full slate of activities planned for that day,” said Superintendent of Westport Public Schools, Elliott Landon.
A large portion of the discussion was devoted to the issue of whether or not to shorten or cancel April Break. A prevalent view was that additional days in June have little academic value.
“Adding one day in June will not give a rich, academic experience. In April, it is an actual school day even if there is not full attendance,” said BOE Chairman, Donald O’Day.
When discussion opened up to the public, many parents and teachers expressed a different view.
President of the Teacher’s Union, Kathy Sharp, conducted a survey of 430 teachers, asking them which option was most and least appealing. She reported that a majority of the teachers ranked removing April break as the least appealing option and removing the Feb. 28 Staff Development Day as the most.
“Teachers are creative and can find ways to make up for the Staff Development Day,” Sharp said.
Board member, Sandy DeFelice reported similar views from Westporters regarding April break. She said that of the 80 emails the board received, more than 70 were against cutting April break.
The Board also addressed the suggestion from some members of the community to hold school on the weekend or increase the length of the school day to make up for the five snow days.
“By state law, we cannot have school on Saturdays or Sundays. We cannot go beyond a seven-hour day and have it count towards the required number of days,” O’Day said.
Though this contingency plan is now in place, the amount of it that will be implemented is unknown.
“I don’t know what the future will be, it’s only February, we have to expect more snow days, I don’t know if it will be one or six,” said BOE member Mark Mathias
