Sorry, you've got to make it up

After Tropical Storm Fay closed them down just after the first day of classes, several Florida school districts asked education commissioner Eric J. Smith (left) to waive the days off, essentially shortening the school year.

Not gonna happen, Smith says.

In a letter to superintendents, the commissioner acknowledged that he could waive up to three days from the 180-day calendar. But because the year is young, and the hurricane season is far from over, he told the districts to "utilize existing flexibility" (read: use some scheduled planning days) to make up the lost time.

Smith suggested he might reconsider later in the year. Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando lost just one day. Other Florida districts were closed almost a week.

Comments

Wasn't that calendar developed by a committee and didn't it have to be approved by the Board, not just Fiorentino?

[Proud to have served!]

And I'm a veteran voting for Heather Fiorentino, because you can bet your butt that if there is no school on Veteran's Day she will be at some Veteran's Day ceremony somewhere in this county, out of respect for her own military father and her respect for our country! Good for her not wanting to have school on Veteran's Day if it can be avoided.

[Vet Voting for Donaldson!]

I'm a Vet and I'm voting for Mr. Donaldson. He has tested leadership, the educational credentials that qualify him for the position. And, most importantly, He's not a POLITICIAN!

[patcon]

"Help" in this is appropriate if the problem is one that could not be foreseen and would cause undue hardship. In this case this "help" might be appropriate for the northern counties which lost multiple days caused by the unusual path of Fay. A one-day closure for bad weather is not unusual and was prepared for in the calendar with the inclusion of "hurricane make-up days". The only real problem will be if repeated or sustained bad weather causes multiple lost days. HF's problem is a political, not educational, one. Her problem is that the first make-up day is Veterans Day and the decision to have school on that holiday will have to be made before the election.

A little help from the state for the students, districts and teachers would have been nice, but it was way too much to actually expect.

[HF'stimeisup]

Again she is showing her disinterest in what's best for taxpayers and students alike. She has shun teachers, and ignored the school board. It's finally time to VOTE HER OUT!! NOW SHE IS THE INCUMBENT WHO NEEDS TO BE SENT PACKING!

Right on patcon!

Congratulations Steve!

[patcon]

Why? Because in Pasco County HF is running for reelection and she doesn't want to have to make the politically-sensitive decision to use the Board-designated first make-up day of November 11, Veterans Day. That's why.

So just like not investigating the Board's suggestion to save money by eliminating courtesy bus routes so she wouldn't have to make that choice before Election Day and risk alienating voting parents, she's trying to avoid alienating voting veterans by hoping to delay the make-up day decision until after the election or by foisting the responsibility for the decision onto someone else, rather than being a leader and making the tough call and saying, "We lost a day of school and 11/11 is the day we're going to make it up because that's what the school calendar I sent to the Board last spring says."

This is what the "experience" of HF gets us. A POLITICIAN's experience of looking toward the next election with eyes focused on getting reelected and avoiding any decisions which might jeopardize that goal. Not a LEADER's experience of analyzing data and making tough choices and still getting people to follow you, possibly into harm's way, even if they don't like those choices.

Well, yeah... Why the heck are the districts wasting everybody's time with this now? Typical lack of critical thinking on somebody's part...