Two-hour delays add up to missed education

The process involved with school administrators making the proper decision regarding two-hour school delays due to unsafe weather conditions is oftentimes difficult. Rather than canceling classes for the entire day, school districts have utilized and sometimes abused the two-hour delay option as a means of skirting the 180day state education mandate. These lost hours are not made up. School districts prefer to implement a delay rather than close for the entire day. By state law, delays do not have to be made up, while full-day cancellations must be.

Two-hour delays can present both a financial hardship and inconvenience to parents. In some districts, the teachers can report to work two hours late are paid for their missed time. With each delay, the students continue to miss another two hours of instruction. The missed hours add up quickly. A few years ago, many school districts missed the equivalent of more than an entire week of school.

Schools are in the business of educating students for the success and growth of our society. We are performing a disservice to both our students and society by cheating them out of those missed hours in the classroom. The “compressed schedule” that the schools implement during a delay is not a fair or appropriate substitute for a full day of instruction.

I call on the Department of Education and the Legislature to act responsibly to mandate that all school delays be made up. That way, students will be assured of receiving the full 180-day education mandate that they are entitled to and which the taxpayers have funded. This solution will not solve the issues with parents missing work, but at least we will be assured of fulfilling the state-mandated full 180 days of education for the benefit of our students and society. MARC SIMON Overbrook