School Opens Late For Staff Meeting
A reader and parent tipped me off to this.
On Tuesday, December 18th , our school will have a two-hour late start. The school day will begin at 9:55 a.m. and end at our regular time. If you are a bus rider, you must be out at your assigned bus stop two hours later than your normal pick-up time.
Although it doesn’t say it on the school’s site, the reason for the late start was for a meeting between the teachers and administrators of the school.
It just galls me when schools do stuff like this. It is a huge inconvenience for working parents to have to go in late to work because their kids have to go to school late. Yet the school decided to inconvenience all of the parents and kids so that they could meet during the school day. Could they not have stayed late one day for this meeting? They get done in the middle of the afternoon. Or perhaps they could have scheduled this meeting for one of their several in-service days? Or a Saturday? Summer? A day over Christmas break? Spring break? Labor Day?
No. Heaven forbid that the administrators and teachers be inconvenienced by having to attend a meeting when they would otherwise be off. It’s much easier to inconvenience all of the parents and kids who attend the school and deprive the kids of two hours of instructional time.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I counted 7 early release days and/or inservice days during the school year in Menomonee Falls school district calendar. They could not accomplish anything on these days? Furthermore, what happened to meetings after school, once the students are gone? Oh yeah, that might be against the contract to stay too long (sarcastic).
Also, I notice on the district calendar that this was not marked on there, meaning, when were the parents notified of this? I would be pretty upset if I was a parent of a child there.
Meeting for what? I am pretty sure that anything they are meeting for could have been done after school. If it is an emergency meeting of some sort, I am pretty sure it would have been done after school. I would e interested to know what the meeting is for. maybe a Christmas, er, holiday (for all of the PC dingy liberal teachers) party? Are parents going to demand an answer to as why??for the record, I am a public school teacher (not at that district) and my school never has done this, nor do I see a reason for it
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 1828 hrs
This is the same school district whose union thugs tried to screw up the spring fling concert last year at Riverside.
Because the teachers were in contract negotiations, they tried to take the spring concert hostage, by only holding during the day, and refusing to come in after hours to put the concert on. So parents who worked wouldn’t be able to see their kids perform. Nice, remember its all about the kids…..
We had some parents, and the Riverside Principle put the show on without the teachers..
There was a union thug outside trying to intimidate me to get parents not to sign a petition to admonish the teachers for using our kids as pawns. Got 258 signatures, and almost had to call the police on the thug. When I wouldn’t back down and told the jerk to get lost or I was going to call 911 he backed down.
Here comes a pretty generic statement but it’s pretty clear it’s true, most teachers only care about only 2 things and the kids are neither of them.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 2040 hrs
I am a teacher and I can say this is quite frequent in the public schools. I know this is a pain th ebutt for parents who have to arrange day care for their kids. These inservice days is what keep curriculum and inservce directors in business. That along giving teachers a nice quiet day at work
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 2225 hrs
After school is not a time to get all teachers together—as many have other school duties “after” school, such as coaching.
In-service days for meeting makes more sense. But it may be that they don’t have another one coming soon, and there is some need for a meeting now. You West Benders know if there’s an in-service day soon; if so, ask why this couldn’t wait until then.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 2242 hrs
Dan wrote
“These inservice days is what keep curriculum and inservce directors in business. That along giving teachers a nice quiet day at work.”
Boy I would guess this teacher isnt teaching english lit.
And as far as it being a pain in the butt for us parents. We are the ones paying your salary and Cadillac benifits.
A little respect for your employer might be nice.
Oh yah its all about the kids… I also noticed Dan didnt mention them at all just what is inconveient for the parents and the teachers….
Again they care about 2 things and the kids are not one of themPosted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 2254 hrs
Overtaxed, maybe and probably, I didn’t make myself clear. I guess my try at sarcasm didn’t work. I am totally opposed to inservice days. They are a waste of time and a pain in th ebutt. Rarely is naything usefull out of these meetings. I hate them!!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 2325 hrs
Dan,
Sorry I didnt catch the sarcasm. So what did you mean that this is what keeps the curriculum and inservce directors in business. What is it that they are doing? And for Gods sake why did they have to do it by pushing back school 2 hours?
Again sorry, its been a long day..
OT
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 18, 2007 at 2330 hrs
Usually, these curriculum directors are the ones who put on the inservices. They are high and mighty and rarely in the classroom. Many are professor want- to-be’s
If a district is large enough, and have a inserice dirrector, the same thing occurs.
They don’t have to push school back. When I taught in WI. , the students would leave early 2 hours. I am a parent and this would be a pain in the butt. There is no reason for this, other than the district may have to pay for overtime if they hold the teachers past their end time.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 0010 hrs
I think we should tread carefully, lest someone think that we’re all a bunch of teacher hating imbeciles. I’m still getting residual replies off of that last monster thread…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 0017 hrs
I have a funny feeling that monster thread will be a tiny little thread in comparison.
Parents are sick and tired of the attitude put forth by the district, administrators, teachers, and who ever else are feeding off the trough. And that’s just the schools..
There are many, many things to let loose on, when it comes to the Wisconsin bureaucracy machine as a whole..
But the citizens of this great state are getting exactly what they voted into office.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 0056 hrs
Aren’t teachers required by law to be in the classroom with students for a set number of days each year? I thought they couldn’t just give the kids the morning off without making it up somewhere else.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 0953 hrs
Back in October, the River Falls high school was proposing late starts twice per month so teachers can meet before school. I assume that they went ahead with it because teachers walk on water.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 1151 hrs
I’ve never begrudged teachers the respect due to the tough job they do, but I have seen some alarming trends coming from the educating community. This apparent disregard for the tough job parents do is just the latest.
And again, I don’t know so much if I blame the teachers, or if I blame the administrators. It’s generally the people who are so out of touch (sounds like administration, doesn’t it?) that make the policies and decide who, what, where, and when.
I’m a parent, and I approve this message.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 1200 hrs
I blame the administrators. There was no pressing need for a meeting now. I was told that it was simply planning for the district reconfiguration, which is not even going to take place until the 2009/2010 school year. The administrators simply wanted to get the teachers buy in and make them part of the process. This could have waited and been done at a more sensible time.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 19, 2007 at 2056 hrs
2 words….
Private school
My husband and I were talking about the Lutheran school our daughters go to today… It is run like our public elementary schools were run when we were there a few decades ago. Public education has changed - I wouldn’t call it improved.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 20, 2007 at 0019 hrs
Wow, what whining. There are lots of countries in Europe whose students learn circles around ours, whose school days begin at 9 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. Sweet Jesus, what do parents in those countries do with their kids?
Well, in some cases, the government mandates that schools provide before and after-school programs for young children. That’s what Norway does for kids between 6-9, for instance. It’s up to the individual municipality how to fund the program. Many just charge the parents. But the point is, the service is always there if you need it.
I get that in this case we’re partly talking about the occasional disruption of a routine. But if that’s the case, let’s ban snow days too. Or maybe some employers just need to become a bit more family-centric.
Kids aren’t being deprived of instructional time. If you held the meetings on a weekend, the teachers would get those hours back somewhere. The union would see to that. If they do all their planning outside of school hours and the school year ends two days earlier, then people here will bitch about how teachers are “working less” and getting paid the same.
Once again, more proof here in the comments that some people are only happy when they’re pissed.
Posted by Recess Supervisor on December 20, 2007 at 0107 hrs
Also proof here that some people have no consideration beyond their own nose. For full time working parents, the occasional disruption is a big deal. The voicing of their concerns is pretty much the point of this blog in general, and this thread in particular.
The off-handed dismissal of these concerns is just small minded.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 20, 2007 at 0907 hrs
CageKicker,
The off-handed dismissal is all that Recess Supervisor has.
If you follow the link associated with his screen name, it all becomes much clearer..
I would suggest that Recess Supervisor read his own posts.
If anyone sounds pissed its him/her or what ever…Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 20, 2007 at 0949 hrs
There are lots of countries in Europe whose students learn circles around ours, whose school days begin at 9 a.m. and end at 2 p.m.
Better teachers in Europe?
Once again, more proof here in the comments that some people are only happy when they’re pissed.
Unlike your blog posts, right?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 20, 2007 at 1058 hrs
Well, if you read my blog, you’ll know that my complaining is fun. I have fun with my targets, but I’m hardly filled with rage. Truth be told, I don’t get too wrapped up emotionally in what my government does because I accept that you and I have very little control over the outcome. Where others get pissed off, I just laugh.
But in an attempt to move this towards something constructive, let me ask this. These sorts of “disruptions” are a fairly regular part of the school schedule, even if they occur irregularly.
So in the event of in-service days or early dismissals or parent-teacher conferences or whatever, what should schools do then? Would taxpayers be willing to pay teachers more for all of these events to be held outside of work hours, if it meant fewer disruptions to the regular school schedule? What about snow days? Should the district provide some kind of service to look after kids even when instruction is cancelled?
Serious questions, all of them. I don’t have answers, and I’m not a parent, so I could give a flip about the answers right now. But maybe some talk amongst yourselves might lead to some actual ideas that could be presented to a school board that could improve the situation.
(Oh, and Adamski, based only on my experience living in a few European countries for about two years, I don’t think it’s necessarily that the teachers are better. It’s a lot of things, I think - families that are more supportive of education, kids are more globally aware [Europeans consume a lot more news than most Americans, even young ones], kids are given more flexibility in determining their own educational course, social promotion is extremely rare. I can’t pinpoint one variable and say I think it’s most important. There’s just a much different attitude about education.)
Posted by Recess Supervisor on December 20, 2007 at 1239 hrs
I am still amazed that teacher Dan can’t spell or construct a sentence where the verb and subject agree. His use of an apostrophe in the plural for “want-to-be” made me laugh so hard I cried. What a fine representative of the people who teach our kids he is.
Posted by Kinda Cranky on December 21, 2007 at 0015 hrs
So we went from wanting the schools to be more considerate about parents juggling schedules and look where we ended up.
Says a lot..
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 21, 2007 at 2256 hrs
Yeah, I don’t know how we degenerate to “I’m smart, you’re dumb” pretty much every time… There really should be some kind of age restriction here, Owen, something to check the maturity levels maybe.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 21, 2007 at 2344 hrs
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