I wonder how many kids braved the elements this morning, risked getting hit by skidding cars, falling on ice and waiting hours for buses just for that perfect attendance award?
Schools should have been closed today. I have no sympathy for teachers who wouldn't use a sick day, but I have lots for the kids who went in, not willing to give up that perfect attendance or afraid a day out will hurt their grades. I know some parents depend on the schools to babysit while they work, but schools are not babysitters. Perhaps the city needs to set up a babysitting alternative for school days.
My daughter reminded me that there were no snow days when she was growing up. It was wrong then. That doesn't make it right now. I am one who always took public transportation and went it. But even I would have stayed under the covers this morning.
5 comments:
Why should I lose a sick day from my bank, when the schools shouldn't have opened to begin with? I don't want sympathy; I'd far prefer fairness. Looks like I'm not likely to get either. BTW, I did go in today (I'm a trooper) but many of my colleagues couldn't possibly have made it in. My reward: 9 of my students showed up (out of over 150 on roster). Oh, and that sick day is still in my bank.
hopefully alternative locations are what Chancellor Farina was possibly implying when she said wanted to look at snow emergency protocol.
It is true though. I have had many kids in my class from homeless shelters or whose parents have minimum wage jobs who always brought their kids to school because they had no other alternative. These kids are 4-5 years old. As much as I do not agree that schools should be babysitting services, in some cases it is the reality and parents have no choice, especially when they need that pay check. Many of the kids in my class also depended on the breakfast served in morning as well, because I worked in a poverty stricken area.
You should be grateful for the ability to take a sick day even if it costs. So many, including my husband, never have that option.
At my school, a senior was awarded the 'perfect attendance' award for all four years of high school. When his name was called for recognition during Awards Night, he failed to appear.
Be glad your school recognized that student. My daughter is graduating next week and has had perfect attendance for 13 years. Her school will not even acknowledge It during her graduation. That pissed me off big time. The school also told me that they couldn't even remember the last time they had a student graduate with perfect attendance for that long. I guess it's not a big deal to our school. WOW.
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