Dear Colleagues,
CALAMITY HOURS
I am pretty sure that most people are betting on school being cancelled for Wednesday and Thursday. Regardless, I hope everyone dresses for any weather you need to confront. Additionally, consider having safety provisions in your car for weather related emergencies.
As you all probably recall a few years ago the state of Ohio now measures minimum school in hours instead of days. Each level has different requirements and different amounts of instruction provided. It is all pretty complicated, but it comes down to a few conclusions regarding calamity days:
-Elementary Schools are required to provide a minimum of 910 hours of instruction per year. Based on last year we provide 1056 hours, so it is unlikely elementary would ever need to make up days.
-Middle Schools are required to provide 1001 hours per year. Last year we counted 1046 hours of instruction for 8th graders and slightly more for 6th and 7th. Therefore there is a leeway of around 8 days.
-High School also requires 1001 hours of instruction per year. This year the high school only has just shy of 5 days to spare.
If we get some time off, consider reading "The Testing Charade: Pretending To Make Schools Better" in preparation for the Heights Coalition Community Books Discussion February 6 and13.
NEGOTIATIONS
As published we sent a letter on January 15 initiating negotiations. We offered 10 dates in February for negotiations. None were accepted. We were asked for our availability in March. I thought the Board had an interest in finishing negotiations while Dr. Dixon was still at the helm. I guess that is no longer the case. We were prepared for talks in February. We will be prepared for talks in March.
Stay warm,
Ari Klein
CHTU President