At the Feb. 24 meeting of the School Committee, members approved a 2014-2015 school calendar that includes a half-day of school on Dec. 24. As I see it, School Committee members are charged with two primary tasks: to make decisions that are in the best educational interest of students and to make decisions that are fiscally responsible. By approving such a calendar, I believe the School Committee has fallen short on both counts. They have put the noneducational desires of parents (an earlier start to summer vacation) ahead of the educational needs of students.
I understand the 2010 decision to eliminate religious holidays from the school calendar and am not suggesting a repeal of that policy. However, the School Committee has the power to set a winter break that maximizes student learning, and it has failed to do so. It is unreasonable to think that children will be ready to learn on Dec. 24, or, because of the expected high rate of student absenteeism, that teachers will be able to plan meaningful instruction at any grade level. With this decision, the School Committee has effectively reduced instructional time for the school year by three hours.
Sending children to school on Dec. 24 amounts to glorified babysitting, an affront to our teachers. Our teachers are highly trained experts in child development and their subject areas, not timekeepers responsible for running the clock out on a day simply to count it toward our required 180.
Because of religious observance and/or travel plans, the district must also prepare for a high volume of teacher absence on Dec. 24. This will result in additional costs to the district for substitute teachers.
Harvard teachers expressed many of these same concerns at the Feb. 24 meeting but were unable to convince the School Committee of their position. It is disappointing that the School Committee did not give greater consideration to their expert opinions.
I strongly urge the School Committee to reconsider the calendar for the 2014-2015 school year because it is in the best educational interest of students and affirms the community’s support of teachers as professionals.
Kate Squire
Oak Hill Road
