The reasoning behind M-W's request for legislative assistance

School district seeks first-time help for a waiver to have a 179-day school year CENTRAL VALLEY - With only a week until school ends, some people within the Monroe-Woodbury School District may wonder exactly how many school days there have been for the 2010-2011 school year: 179 or 180? New York State mandates 180 instructional days each year. But in actuality, the district has had only 179 days. Currently, state legislation is pending to allow the district to keep the $156,000 in state aid for that missed day, part of the $28 million in foundation aid it received this current school year. It is the first time the district has ever made such a request for legislative assistance to waive one day. Some parents and students may wonder how that could be, given the district pulled back a vacation day on May 27, originally scheduled as a four-day weekend, after notifying all concerned that the district used seven snow days this past season — one more than the six days allotted in this school calendar year. To clear up the speculation, District Superintendent Edward Mehrhof explained the series of events leading up to the request for special legislation to allow the district keep the $156,000 it would have lost the next school calendar year due to being short one day this year. Mehrhof reminded district residents the calling of those seven snow days was based on variety of factors officials must take into account in the early morning hours. They include the current and projected forecasts and morning road conditions as reported by police and district officials. He recognized weather forecasts have a certain degree of unreliability but stressed safety comes first in the decision. The last district snow day was March 23. Coping with degrees of pain But officials also said a difficult and tragic series of events also played into the equation of the number of school days this year. Here’s how Mehrhof reviewed it, noting the combination of factors is highly unusual. First, this past winter, the district dealt with a large number of combined student suicides, attempted suicides and threatened suicides— known as suicide ideation — in both the high school and middle school from the time period beginning in January through April. While two particular incidents brought national media attention earlier in the year, there were “significantly more” suicide ideation incidents, he said. Mehrhof declined to give the actual number of incidents, saying he “did not want to inflict more pain and sorrow to those who have been hurt, because those families know who they are and I have had conversations with most of them and I want their privacy to be maintained.” He also said he did not want to say anything “to remotely encourage any copycat actions,” something which he and mental health professionals said sometimes happens after student suicides or attempted suicides. Mehrhof said he knows 'the actual number is out there” in the community. But in documents provided to elected officials, the district cited 31 incidents of different magnitudes from January to April. That, Mehrhof said, made for a high school and middle school community who was coping with various degrees of pain over the winter/spring months. 'Don’t disrupt the routine’ Keeping that in mind, he said, the district had a parent/teacher conference day scheduled for April 15. That day was initially scheduled to be only a half-day conference, with students having instruction during the morning hours. “Parents requested … they demanded, that we extend the parent/teacher conference day to a full day,” Mehrhof said. “We had a tremendous demand. The community was suffering. The parents wanted to see their children’s teachers. They wanted to know their kids were okay. I agreed to do this.” But now April 15— the full day parent/teacher conference — could no longer be considered an instructional day because classes were not in session and there was no instructional in-service programming for teachers. Any combination of these two would have allowed for that day’s state aid. Further adding to the mix, said Mehrhof, was that mental health professionals consistently counseled district officials on what they said was the proper course of action to take in dealing with the student suicide issues. Part of that recommendation was to not pull back any days from the week-long spring break in April. “We spoke with the agencies,” Mehrhof said. “They said, 'They need a break. Don’t disrupt the routine. It’s like a pin pricking a pressure bubble.’ We followed their advice. We let the kids stay home.” That’s why May 27 was selected as the day to be called back to make up the 180th day, despite it being a holiday weekend. These decisions were put in place prior to the March 23 snowstorm, according to the district’s correspondence to state officials. When that snow day occurred, that reduced the total number of instructional days back down to 179. And, when it was eventually determined that the April 15 day could not qualify for state aid, officials requested an exemption. But state officials said the only way the $156,000 would not be lost would be to request special legislation asking for a waiver of the one day. Mehrhof said state legislative officials were quick to respond. District officials hoped for passage by June 20 — before the State Legislature recesses — but now expect it to pass in early January 2012. They said that’s because the state wants to be sure there are no other days school would need to be closed before the end of the school year. The ability 'to count’ Lastly, district officials felt in light of making the waiver request, they would maximize the remaining amount of instructional time available to students by extending school days for the balance of the year , Mehrhof said. The official school calendar doesn’t list the last week of school as being three half days and a shortened last day of school, but that’s how those days were scheduled on the elementary level, he said. They have been changed to four full days next week, with a shortened final day on June 24. “This gives the students maximum contact days with their teachers and maximum instruction hours,” he said. “We know the elementary school teachers need time to dismantle their rooms and we’re going to give them that time using teaching assistants and subs.” The remaining instructional time available in the high school and middle school is limited and falls around the scheduling of Regents exams, he said. Mehrhof said he understands the community’s interest about the change in schedule. He knows some may be questioning the district’s ability “to count.” But he wanted residents to know the district felt it had valid reasons for its scheduling decisions. “It was important for us to do what the mental health officials counseled us to do,” Mehrhof said. “And we don’t want to be punished for this.” Remaining school days Monroe-Woodbury school calendar for remainder of the 2010-2011 school year: High School June 15 through 23 - Regents days - students follow the Regents schedule. June 24 - Regents Rating day. Middle School June 20 - Students must report for the full school day. June 21 - Regents day - students follow the Regents schedule. June 22 and 23 -Students must report for the full school day. June 24 - Regents Rating day. Elementary Schools Full days: June 20 through June 23 Friday, June 24: Sapphire and Smith Clove Elementary Schools will be in session from 8:30 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. North Main, Pine Tree and Central Valley Elementary Schools will be in session from 9 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. Read the proposed legislation http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5513-2011 Parents requested … they demanded, that we extend the parent/teacher conference day to a full day. We had a tremendous demand. The community was suffering. The parents wanted to see their children’s teachers. They wanted to know their kids were okay. I agreed to do this.” M-W School Superintendent Edward Mehrhof