The Pennsbury School District is facing a big problem due to this school year’s amount of snow days.
Superintendent Kevin McHugh released a letter this week explaining the issue. He said in the letter he hoped to stop the “misinformation and apparent lack of understanding being shared.”
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The letter explains the state-mandated requirement of 180 days of instruction, how the district’s calendar is built and contractual issues. McHugh explains why planned student days off in February and April were not converted in the instructional days.
The issues of the contractual inflexibility made a local talk radio show Friday morning, LevittownNow.com readers reported.
Below is the full text of McHugh’s letter.
Dear Pennsbury Parents and Guardians,
Clearly, we are in the midst of a brutal winter. To date we have had to close our schools on seven different days due to ice, snow, and lack of power. The decision to close on any given day is singularly mine and is based on protecting the safety of our students and staff and on the best available information from various forecasts. I also communicate directly with my Superintendent colleagues in the region to discuss options and opinions. Subsequent to a closure, the alteration of our school calendar is a collaborative process of the School District’s Administration. It is based on a variety of factors that combine to comply with state law, contracts, and practicality. There is not much in that process that is arbitrary.
The revisions to the calendar have generated a lot of conversation and concern in the community. There is much misinformation and apparent lack of understanding being shared about what should be done with the calendar. This letter is intended to provide a factual explanation of the careful approach used by the Administrative team to revise the school calendar when necessary due to full-day closures caused by inclement weather.
First, any revision to the Pennsbury academic calendar is based on the state-mandated requirement of 180 days of instruction for all students. In fact, the Pennsylvania Department of Education reiterated the 180 day requirement this week in a communication to all Superintendents. Statements being made by some that we can just add additional time to the school day and replace the 180 day requirement are just inaccurate. There is a process known as ACT 80 that can be used to offset student days. We use this process every year and may be able to apply it for the end of this year, but it is limited and based on a complex formula that cannot be accurately calculated until we are sure that we will have no additional snow days. I have also applied for a waiver of the one day for the three schools that were not able to open on February 7, due to continued power outages. I have not yet heard back from the Pennsylvania Department of Education about that request. If approved, those students at Edgewood, Makefield, and Walt Disney would be exempted from the extra student day after all others have finished their year.
Second, unlike many other school districts, Pennsbury does not build snow days into the academic calendar. Our practice has always been to add days at the end of the school year when school closures impact the calendar. On an unusual year like this one, that does move the last student day to very late in June.
Third, there are two major employee group contracts in place in Pennsbury that are legally binding. Both of these contracts have implications for the academic calendar. Upon close examination of non-student days at this point in the 2013-2014 calendar, you will see that each reveals at least one financial, safety, or contractual component that impacts its potential use as a student day.
- February 17 was a contractual holiday for our support staff. Had we opened school on that day, it would have cost double time for approximately 650 support personnel. This would also have presented difficulties for staff and parents who had plans for travel on the busiest winter travel weekend. Substitutes for teachers and support staff and poor student attendance would have been likely problems. Needless to say, the extra costs that we would have incurred are not available in our current budget.
- February 18 was what is known as a “trade day” in our professional staff contract. Over 90% of the 850 employees who work under this contract (teachers, counselors, nurses, and other certified staff) had already worked this day, either last summer or sometime during the current year, and “traded” that professional time for this extension of the Presidents’ Day holiday. For our professional staff to work on that day would cost the taxpayers as much as $325,000 extra dollars, also not in the budget.
- April 11 is a grading day that is contractual in the professional staff contract and must come after the last day of each marking period. To have students attend school on this day would be a violation of that provision of the contract. The day has been established in the current contract and agreed to as necessary for the completion of grades by all teachers.
- April 17 and 18 are contractual with our support staff union. These employees are guaranteed two paid holidays around the Easter recess by contract. To have them work would cost double time –also not in the budget. Securing substitutes and student attendance would again be problems. Travel plans have been made by many employees, as well as parents, for these days. If we held school, I am not certain how many substitutes we would be able to secure for our professional and support staff, and how many students would also be absent.
- April 21 is another teacher trade day. To bring in the professional staff would cost over $325,000 — another unbudgeted expense.
- May 20 is Primary Election Day and also a workshop day for teachers. We may have some flexibility with this day, but that is not yet decided. There is a safety concern since most of our schools are used as polling places. This is still in discussion.
If you have any suggestions on how to overcome the issues that I have listed here, please feel free to send them to me. I hope this helps in your understanding of the 20 13-2014 Pennsbury academic calendar.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. McHugh, Ed.D.
Superintendent
