40°
District officials planned the 2012-13 calendar with several buffer days to reduce the number of days that have to be added at the end of the school year, Deputy Superintendent William Glass said.
“Last year Hurricane Irene and the nor’easter hit all the school systems pretty hard,” Glass said.
After dealing with last year's October snowstorm, he said the district decided to build five emergency days into the schedule that are planned as holidays initially but can be used as school days in the event of a weather disruption.
The school year must be finished by June 30, unless the state approves otherwise, and students cannot be required to go to school on Saturdays or Sundays, which limits the ways to make up lost days, Glass said. The last day of school was planned for June 19, which leaves room for make up, along with the emergency days, if needed, he said.
Although Glass said he is confident the built-in days will be enough to make up the lost time, April vacation could be used as school days as a last resort.
“I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “I doubt we’ll get to the point where we have to take away any April vacation.”
If all goes according to plan, Danbury students and teachers will have their vacations and be out by the end of June, Glass said.
“Nobody wants to go into July,” he said. “Our schools don’t have air conditioning.”
Continuing school into July would also interfere with summer school, outdoor recreation and scheduled cleaning plans, adding to the list of reasons to end school by the end of June, Glass said.
Along with the calculated approach to makeup days, Glass said the district is confident teachers will keep students on track academically. Having five days off in a row is easier to deal with than a day or two off each week for several weeks in a row, he said, because students aren’t on a stop-and-go rollercoaster of lessons and focus.
“It’s early enough in the year that curriculum gaps can be made up,” Glass said. “ It’s better to have five in a row than one every other day. That’s a much more significant disruption.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Danbury and receive free news updates.
