Point Road Opening Tuesday, Little Silver Schools on Full-Day Schedules
Parent-teacher conferences will force half-days Thursday and Friday
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Markham Place and Point Road School students will resume regular schedules Tuesday after attending classes on a split schedule Monday due to continued problems at Point Road.
However, students will only resume a full schedule after nearly two weeks of inactivity on Tuesday and Wednesday, with early dismissals Thursday and Friday for parent-teacher conferences, Superintendent Carolyn Kossack announced Monday evening.
Little Silver children split time at Markham Place Monday after plans to reopen both schools were dashed due to a smoking electrical panel discovered at Point Road Saturday morning. Kossack, in a letter to the community on the district's website, said Point Road was deemed safe and operational at 11:20 a.m. today.
"Thanks to the cooperation and flexibility of the Little Silver police and the Little Silver staff, the day went quite smoothly. As always, I appreciate parental support and flexibility in adjusting to the change in schedule for today," Kossack wrote.
The superintendent has said she choose to receive students on a split schedule because of the time lost due to Hurricane Sandy and the need to establish normal routines.
But the full-day routine will only be in effect Tuesday and Wednesday.
Children will be dismissed early for the parent-teacher conferences with Kossack saying she decided to retain the planned schedule after consulting with staff.
"Some parents have inquired as to whether or not consideration could be given to postponing the conferences... There is absolutely no disputing that we all want to resume a normal, full-day schedule. There is also no disputing that having half-days after school was closed because of the disaster is not ideal," Kossack wrote.
However, "the resounding complaint that I’ve heard from parents, as of late, is that they felt schedules kept changing... While I understand the desire to return students to a full-day schedule, I also know that many parents have planned for the upcoming conferences. There is no single decision that will make everyone happy, therefore I must err on the side of minimizing change, and maintain the conference schedule as published."
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Markham Place Middle School
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Point Road School
357 Little Silver Point Rd, Little Silver, NJ
Alice
9:39 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
I attended the meeting tonight and heard Dr. Kossack explain in great detail how she came to every decision these past two weeks. I give her credit for handling the changing situation so well. Call her. She will gladly explain this decision to you as well.
Irene
10:15 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
I agree with Little S, it's easy to read a short article and pass judgment on a long thought out decision that probably took hours of information processing to make. If you have questions, I agree, call her....she seemed to have thought it out….and has always been open and accessible…We all must take a step back and realize we all want that is best ..
Piano40
12:03 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Night conferences do not interfere with school hours. Extend the night conferences for a few days. Others can be after school hours or phone conference. 2 wasted days. These poor kids may be losing their upcoming breaks - just silly
PR Parent
8:44 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
You have to remember the teachers are contracted employees. Granted our teachers will do whatever is best for our children but there is fine line the district has to be careful off. If we move them all to evening conferences then great the kids are in full day but with subs? Then is it worth it to have them in all day but watching a movie or doing worksheets? It is what is is, we have to accept it and move on. It certainly isn't an ideal situation but it isn't like Dr. Kossack just made a decision without speaking to the community, OEM, the mayor, the staff and the police chief.
Muriell Puce
9:35 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
It is obvious the children need structure and a return to the regular routine. I am confident most of the posturing and machinations by Dr. Kossack is to appease the community and justify her salary. The bottom line is the 5 days of dismissal at 12:30 satisfies the requirement of a "full" day.
Carolyn Wassrfall
9:40 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
I would love to here what our governor thinks of all these ridiculous responses
Piano40
10:07 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Night conferences = subs. I'm confused. FYI my third child in Markham and I've yet to ever have a conference out if those 100 students , maybe 40 tops schedule them.
The kids need school more than the parents need their conferences. If its that important- call the teacher or go at night. 5 1/2 days? C'mon
PR Parent
12:47 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Contract only allows the teachers to work a specific number of hours in a day. If conferences were to be held only in the evening the teachers would not be permitted to teach all day and then meet with parents at night.
Dentss Dunnagun
3:39 pm on Saturday, November 17, 2012
But ...but ....what ever happen to "it's for the kids" ?....I guess whenever sacrifices must be done it just pertains to the taxpayer and his never ending tax increases to the schools