Some of you may have read the book "Who Moved My Cheese?". If you haven't, it is about change and how people need to work through change. If you have been following school news around the state for the past couple of years you might imagine why it would be important to understand how change works and how to work through it in a positive way.
I think I need to write a book titled, "You Want Me to Move A Boulder?" and it will encompass all of the changes that we have been forced to implement due to the economy, the Governor, and the New York State Education Department in which all of the suspense will lead up to the last chapter that I will title...
WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR SPRING BREAK THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN SCHEDULED?
Yes, you read that correctly. On top of all of the other changes we have had to make, most of them affecting our students and staff, we received word on FRIDAY that Dr. John King, the Commissioner of Education, decided to change the dates of the English Language Arts Assessments and they will now fall smack dab into the middle of our Spring Break (about 10-15% of the schools in NYS have Spring Break the same week we do).
Obviously my colleagues and I went nuts when we heard the news, but the Commissioner did not waiver. We will need to change the dates for our Spring Break. Area superintendent's and I are meeting with Dr. Jessica Cohen, the BOCES District Superintendent, this Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the situation and make the changes that are going to be necessary.
While the Commissioner feels that he has valid points for changing the testing dates, (to view the letter to the superintendents click here) I respectfully disagree with his decision. It is too late to make a schedule change of this magnitude and many people (staff and parents) probably have vacations planned they have paid for. To view the assessment schedule click here. You can also access both of these files from the About West Genesee - Superintendent's Message page.
My voice and the voices of my colleagues are not loud enough to be heard apparently, but I wanted you to know what I feel about this change.
I will let all of you know what the new West Genesee Spring Break week will be this Wednesday at the conclusion of my meeting with the BOCES District Superintendent.
I am too fired up to tell you about my cool weekend, so I will have to save that for my next post. Stay tuned.
Chris
This page provides thoughts and commentary from the Superintendent of Schools for the West Genesee Central School District. From time to time, columns from this page will appear in the District printed publication, The Communicator, distributed at no charge to households in the district. (To subscribe to this link as a RSS feed, please click on the link "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" located at the bottom of the postings.)
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About Me
- Christopher R. Brown
- Probably not the most traditional superintendent of all time but I have a true love for children and watching them grow and mature. I enjoy speaking to them when they return home from college, job, or service and talking about the "good old days". Definitely keeps me young.
