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One mom’s response to weekly early release proposal

Posted Jul 29, 2010 by Beth Gaddis

Updated Jul 29, 2010 at 08:10 AM

The proposal to have early release days once a week for Hillsborough County public school students is getting a lot of response.  There is even a petition to stop the proposal.  Full story

Below is an e-mail I received from a woman who wrote a letter to Superintendent of Schools MaryEllen Elia.  Do you have an opinion?  Sound off on our TBOMom Facebook page. 
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Letter from Cheryl Arko to MaryEllen Elia:

I am extremely frustrated over the latest proposal for weekly early release days.  It was bad enough when the Hillsborough County school board released the news that the schools would have early release days twice a month last school year.  Now you are planning to double the amount of early release days?  That is very disheartening.

First of all it makes it extremely difficult for working parents.  These days, with the economy the way it is, most families have both parents working.  Unfortunately, most companies do not offer the flexibility needed to accommodate these changes.  What is a working parent to do?  I think most parents would agree that having a day off each month would be easier to handle than trying to juggle these early release days.  It is much easier to rearrange schedules based on one day a month then to try and juggle schedules once every week.

The other, most important, issue is how it affects our children and their education.  Do you really believe that taking time away from the school day is beneficial to the children?  They are losing valuable education time by doing this.  In my experience from this past school year, the children are receiving very little classroom instruction on those early release days.  My children say that they watch movies, have extra outside time and eat lunch in the classroom on these days.  Can you tell me how that is helping to advance our children’s education?  It is increasingly important that our children’s education is competitive in this global economy.  This proposal is a hindrance to their education and their education will only continue to suffer the more time we take away from the classroom.

I know that I speak for many of the parents out there, as I have had many conversations with other angry parents.  I ask that you think about how this will affect our children and their education when you go to vote on this proposal.

Sincerely,
A very concerned parent,
Cheryl Arko