‘Complicated’ NPS calendar issue inspires debate

NORWALK, Conn. —A proposal to reschedule Norwalk’s winter school break to March, instead of April, is inspiring controversy and debate.

The proposal ­– which would take place in the 2020-21 school year, not next winter – also includes two three-day weekends to coincide with Presidents Day and Easter. It originated from a discussion at the May 21 Board of Education meeting, where Chairman Mike Barbis suggested the March break in response to concerns raised by Norwalk Superintendent of Schools Steven Adamowski about the time students have to prepare for state testing.

“I would simply welcome that. I think it makes sense, more sense educationally because it puts much more time of instruction between the break and high stakes testing,” Adamowski replied, commenting that March breaks are standard in the Midwestern calendar, “which I was very familiar with at one time in my career.”

“That would be the worst case scenario for teachers with children in suburban school systems because it would be totally off but if I knew the Board would consider something like that I would be interested in presenting that in a heartbeat because that would actually be the most sound way to handle the break,” Adamowski said.

Indeed, Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Mary Yordon at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting protested the resultant proposal, announcing that slightly more than half of NFT members do not live in Norwalk and will be out of work while their children are expected to be in school because those communities will be “out of sync” with Norwalk, should the proposal be approved.

A husband and wife team of parents said Barbis had asked them to poll the Fox Run Elementary School community, and results show more parents are against the idea than for it. Not only that, but staff members complain that students really struggle with lethargy in February and that’s when a break is needed, one said.

The proposal has created an outcry on the Facebook page Norwalk Parents for Education, where some parents called the drafted calendar “horrific,” “awful” and a “disaster.” Nora King, in return, said many parents have wanted a March vacation and, “There have been a lot of parents unhappy about the April break for years.”

“Our interest in the calendar as educators is one which is helps facilitate the achievement of our students,” Adamowski said Tuesday. “So there are two variables. One is how much instructional time we can get because our students need that, and they need more of that to close the achievement gap.”

Gloria and Eric Neiderer said Barbis asked them to poll Fox Run parents to get their thoughts on two four-day weekends coinciding with Presidents Day and Easter and a week off in March instead of April, but the draft in front of the Board specified two three-day weekends.

Barbis in May suggested that Board members poll their stakeholders. Fox Run is in District E, which Barbis represents.

“Why weren’t we asked to also poll the scenario that is on this proposed calendar?” Gloria Neiderer asked. “Ideally, I would prefer a week off in February and also a week off in April so I could choose which vacation time would best fit my family, so schools could be properly cleaned during flu season.”

The decision is up to the Board and will be considered at the July retreat, Adamowski said.

Board members Sarah LeMieux, Julie Corbett and Heidi Keyes in May indicated support for a March break while Barbara Meyer-Mitchell pushed back, asking for data about absences inspired by parents seeking a vacation.

Adamowski on Tuesday said that “many, many families in our school system” do not have the option of taking a vacation, given that more than a third are single parents who hold a job and two-thirds of families have both parents at work, with more than half of Norwalk’s school children “in poverty.”

He listed advantages to a March break:

• More time between NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) end of year testing and the “high stakes” Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) state assessment in May
• More time between the spring break and the SBAC testing
• Dividing the school year into thirds

“This lends itself to the current trimester system we have at the elementary level and would enable an easy transition to trimesters at the middle schools, where it is also our goal to implement parent teacher conferences twice per year, similar to the elementary level,” Adamowski said. “If you look at the calendar, all of that just works very well and more organically because we’re not interrupting a trimester with a break at that point.”

Adamowski in May had presented a draft calendar that gave students Good Friday off and then a one-week break following Easter, which would mean NWEA testing before the break, he said.

“Then the research tells us we need at least three weeks back in school before we take the high stakes SBAC testing in May, to avoid disadvantaging our students,” he said.

The administration would be happy with either calendar, either the traditional one or the one putting the break in March, but the question is the disruption on families, Adamowski said Tuesday, stressing that it’s up to the Board.

NPS has 1,986 employees, including part-timers, of whom 1,035 are teachers or administrators, he said, also explaining that 52% of the staff and 35% of the teacher/administrator staff live in Norwalk. Of that, 21% of the staff with school age children live in other districts, primarily Trumbull, Stamford and Fairfield.

It’s good that the Board is planning ahead because there’s time to study the issue, he said.

“We know the calendar is a very complicated issue,” Barbis said. “We sometimes know, I think, we need to relook, or consider other options, try to experiment, because, just because we have always done it that way doesn’t mean we should continue doing it that way.”

NancyOnNorwalk did not attend the meeting but watched it on the NPS video.

One parent on the Facebook page said she had been there and Meyer-Mitchell “attempted to speak on the calendar and despite being looked directly at 2 different times, she was not called on to speak. At least 3 different times during the meeting she had to start speaking into the microphone bc her hand up was not acknowledged.”

“I favor a full week in February and April, aligned with our neighboring districts, with coordinated camps through our Parks department and non-profit partners to provide affordable, enriching child care for families with working parents who need it,” Meyer-Mitchell wrote. “The argument for the March break is to allow at least three weeks of continuous instruction before the SBAC in May {…} My concern with this schedule is teacher and student burnout. They need regular breaks to recharge. Also, if one’s family couldn’t afford to travel, a ‘spring break’ with CT March weather won’t be very fun. During the recession when we couldn’t travel, at least we could go to the beach or parks. That would not really be an option in March.”

Board member Bryan Meek wrote, “The reasoning has everything to do with expectations for educational outcomes and not where adults are going to play.”

Other thoughts on the Facebook page include:

• “what educational outcomes? Dr. A stated last night that instructional time was the biggest concern. Research again and again points to children needing more play and social emotional earning and THAT will help to increase their learning. NOT more instructional time.”
• “Many issues: elementary events are on Thursdays and those are almost wiped out in March by this calendar, there will be a vacation in between conferences which is very disruptive. Most colleges offer accepted student days during our current April break which will cause seniors to have additional absences in April. The April May stretch is very long. SAT in school has generally been in March so it would hit near this break. There are some years that the April break coincides with Passover which allows for travel for the holiday. I don’t understand cramming a vacation into March, most of the towns that tried it went back. This only would benefit spring athletes but would be disruptive for most of our other students IMO”
• “They want to test these children constantly but no true progress is being made.  Perhaps this top down model doesn’t work. Central office positions have been created these last few years but no true support on the front lines. Let’s give our teachers the tools to help our children succeed.”
• “Where was the theory of poor people do not go away for April break? Is that just an assumption? It may be true that some do not go away, but alot of people have relatives that come during this break. They enjoy spending time with family. Taking time off from work to spend time with your children in a warmer month means a lot and does not always have to involve money.”