Extended day is cause for concern

Editor’s note: The writer of the letter to the editor below also sent his concerns to Jay Schools Superintendent Tim Long via email. Long agreed his email response could also run as a letter to the editor. Both letters follow.
••••••••••
To the editor:
I am writing this because I do have some major concerns about extending the school day by an hour but it taking six hours to make a full day up.
When Jay Schools are on a three-hour delay with an hour extension it’s considered a full by the state board of education. That means four hours of school is equal to a full (six-hour) day of school (elementary). Why is it going to take six days of one-hour extensions to make a proposed full day credit?
I read where this is only going to be a month by month decision, but this hasn’t been addressed in the local paper. You claim from March 3 to April 3 only going to cut three days out from missed days (by going six hours for one day credit). When there’s a three-hour delay with an hour extension there’s only four hours of in school for elementary school. If going by a four-hour (when there’s a three-hour delay) is considered a full day of school then by my calculation, April 3 would have credited 4 1/2 days of missed school instead of just three. Why is the State Board of Education not calculating a four-hour school day as a whole day?
My oldest niece attends Helping Hands daily and greatly benefits off this assistance in her education. By going an hour over of school will she lose out on this program? I work different hours daily and never have the same schedule each week and this would hurt my niece on her progress of her education.
Will teachers have to stay another hour after school to help with this program or any other program or will the children, the future, be put aside just so the teachers can go home? If extending the school day by an hour the way it’s going to be, then all extra curricular activities should not have to suffer from this harsh winter weather just because a teacher wants to go home. One would become a teacher not for a pay check but because they love children and the teaching field. Why should a child have to suffer because a teacher wants to go home?
My honest opinion, all extra-curricular activities should go on as they have — have the programs accessible to the children. The day time has more sun light, so no teacher would be going home in the dark by 4:30 to 5 p.m.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this and possibly consider some, if not all, of my concerns. I will look forward to hearing from you or reading a better explanation in the local news paper, The Commercial Review.
A Concern Citizen,
Jason R. Woolslager
Portland

Long’s response
Let me begin by thanking you for sending in the email with your concerns. I am happy to address your concerns where I can and give you a little more information:
1. Jay School Corporation has to follow the guidelines given by the State of Indiana. They make all the rules regarding make-up days. In the past several years, we have been required to make them up either with built-in days, such as Presidents’ Day last week) or by adding days at the end of the school year. There has not been a formula for adding to the day. This year is different, and the state determines the formula. It is not a local decision. In the past, I have tried to go to school on Saturday, but the attendance is very low. Saturday school usually only generates about 60 percent attendance. We are penalized by the state financially if our attendance is low. We usually average about 94 percent attendance.
2. I do not know why the State is using six hours as a guide. It is their call. I will forward your email to Dr. George Frampton. He is one of the State officials who is working on the waiver program.
3. Please forward the name of your niece to me and I will look into her specific situation. I am not sure of the circumstances, but will be happy to investigate how we will be able to get her the necessary services.
4. Our teachers and students work very hard. We are an “A-rated” school district and we want to maintain that rating with the state. In Jay County, our students rank very high, and it is a credit to all people including the parents, Board, students, teachers and community. Our staff is dedicated to staying the extra time. The proposal we are working with came from staff, parents, teachers and with some community input.
5. I will consider what you have written. It has been a tough winter on all of us. This has been one of the most extreme winters we have had in my memory. I am hoping for a warm spring, but the forecast does not look good even for this weekend. We do not know how many make-up days we will have or need. We could still miss more days due to ice, snow, fog or even flooding. The most important thing is the safety of our children. It is not something that we take lightly. We will continue to make the best decisions we can at the time of the weather event.
6. We have implemented a three-hour delay schedule. It is one that has saved us many days this winter, or I fear our makeup day number would be much higher. Given the geographical size of our district, we need the extra time for safety. Our parents and teachers have accepted this, and it has been a good thing for safety. This is especially important in the spring when we have had many fog events. Fog and ice are two of the most difficult things to predict or adjust to making a call. No one knows if a delay is a good call until after the delay is over. We simply cannot take the chance of putting people on the road if the conditions are deemed not to be safe.
Jay School Corporation will continue to respectfully accept all comments for improvement. I certainly appreciate your feedback and comments. I am hopeful that these answers have helped in some way, and I will forward your concerns to the school board and state officials. Please stay in touch and continue to give input when you feel it is necessary. I hope this clarifies a few of the points.
Respectfully,
Timothy D. Long, Ed.D.
Jay Schools superintendent
••••••••••
(Editor’s note: As noted in Saturday’s story in The Commercial Review, the Indiana Department of Education requires five hours of instruction for a make-up day for grades one through six and six hours for grades seven through 12.)

[[In-content Ad]]