After consideration of several options in regard to amending the , the five school days to be furloughs for 2012-13 were scheduled on Fridays, as well as a Thursday/Friday on the last week of school, as follows:
- Friday, Aug. 31: provides a four-day weekend over Labor Day holiday
- Friday, Oct. 26: October had no scheduled days out of school
- Friday, March 29: March had no scheduled days out of school, and this date provides a longer weekend over the Easter holiday (something frequently requested by parents when Spring Break does not align with Easter)
- Thursday, May 23 and Friday, May 24: ends the school year two days earlier than originally planned and allows high school graduation ceremonies to start on Thursday (the addition of first graduating class in 2013 will necessitate the adjustment of the current graduation ceremony schedule at , the facility used for all high school graduation ceremonies).
By keeping three of the five school-day furloughs in the second half of the year, this allows the district to accommodate any potential snow days that might occur over the winter months without lengthening the school year. The ⅔ split also takes somewhat equal days out of each of the two semesters and still ends the first semester before winter holidays. The Aug. 1 start date was set with the calendar adoption three years ago, and many people have already made plans that would be disrupted by having their children out of school Aug. 1-3, as well as staff development plans and school pre-planning schedules that have already been set.
Additional Staff Furlough Days
- Tuesday, Nov. 6, Election Day, was already a student holiday and has been for many years (20 school campuses are used as polling sites for elections and traffic is substantially heavier, especially in a Presidential Election year such as this one), but it was scheduled as a Staff Development Day and now will be a furlough day for teachers; the remaining teacher furlough days are taken from post-planning. Teachers have been emphatic that if days must be cut from their work calendar, post-planning days are much preferred to pre-planning days. Also, this model allows teachers to end their contract days before Memorial Day.
The furloughs apply to all employees, based on their contractual days. Bus drivers, school nurses and parapros will only have five furlough days, as they only work on the days school is in session, and five days have been removed from the normal 180-day calendar. Employees who work 190 days or more will have eight furlough days total. Furlough days cannot be scheduled during school breaks because the majority of employees, including teachers, are not paid for days they do not work, and thus, no cost savings would be realized.
If it is "about the children" then keep them in school so they can learn. Cut employee pay and keep the schools open. Nobody gets paid on furlough days anyway.
The number of kids in the system doesn't matter. People with zero pay the same as people with 6.
The dedicated teachers come before the students. OK. Finding child care on furlough days is difficult for some working parents. Parents should not have to pay because of CCSD's financial mismanagement. Cobb has 3 furlough days apparently students do come first in some districts.
Lots of people have BA or above and are making less than 41K for 180 days a year. Many well educated people lost their jobs and are unemployed or underemployed. I do expect teachers to put students first or find a new career. Good luck in this job market. I place blame on the GOP, DR. P and the current school board. It is unfortunate that teachers are taking a hit financially but who isn't? Cobb is more efficient. They also pay less to their non teaching executives and managers.
Your arrogance is astounding.
"In NO other industry would I expect more from an employee while reducing their pay and benefits year in and year out" and there is the disconnect between teaching and the rest of us. Those outside of government employment have been dealing with increased work, less pay and no job security for years. Teachers are no different or special than any other employee. If their moral is so low they become ineffective then they should be removed from teaching. There are lots of eager college grads and experienced teachers willing to take their spot. Police and firefighters have been hit equally as hard. Yet I don't hear them complaining nearly as much as teachers and school staff.
I did say Dr. P and his people have mismanaged our tax money and the current school board has raised taxes repeatedly. I am also saying the GOP in GA is a joke and is more concerned with privatizing education than fixing public education.
To point out the obvious errors in your post to Ashley: 1. "They are not priest or mother Teresa, they know full well that as a elementary teacher with a little bit of research you know exactly what you are going to be paid..." - Teaching isn't a high pay job and many would argue that they are doing "God's" work but devoting themselves to the betterment of our children. Yes, teachers know this when the enter the profession and I suspect that many DID RESEARCH what they were to be paid. The only problem is that due to austerity cuts and furlough days, they're not getting the pay they researched and expected. 2. "Teachers aren't saving the world" - They are saving the world by creating the next generation of thinking adults and leaders. If they fail in their jobs, ideological fanatics, zeolots, and plain and simple idiots will prevail and destroy our county and the world. Without teachers, everything you hold dear in your life would not exist! 3. "A teacher is a tool for learning, but not the sole source for that." - So you're proposing that we could do away with all teachers, home school all children or stick them in front a a computer for all of their learning. Please, just once, make a sound argument. Your posts make you sound stupid and I feel for your wife and children. And I trust you boss doesn't read your posts. I'd fire you in a heartbeat.