Westport Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon Monday night in Hartford harshly criticized a legislative proposal that would impose financial penalties on districts that do not adhere to the state’s Regional Uniform School Calendar.
Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon testifying in Hartford Monday night. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo from CT-N Network
He said every school district has the right to create its own academic calendar.
“I am here today to speak against this latest legislative proposal which would have the effect of imposing severe financial penalties upon those school districts that do not abide by the unfunded mandate regarding a Regional Uniform School Calendar,” Landon told the General Assembly’s Education Committee.
He also urged committee members “to do your best to undo in its entirety the unfunded mandate of a Regional Uniform School Calendar.
“After all, this unfunded mandate was introduced into a Planning and Development Committee bill as a House floor amendment without it ever being discussed or commented upon at a public hearing,” Landon said.
Landon stressed that districts setting their own calendars is consistent with “the New England tradition of supporting local control.”
“The state legislature for decades has not interfered with this particular local option for school districts,” he said.
“With this unfortunate unfunded mandate, the legislature has expressed its disdain for allowing any school district in every community to create a calendar based upon its own very special local culture, local traditions, and local needs.”
Landon, who is set to retire in June after 17 years at the helm and has spent 39 years as a superintendent in other districts, pointed out that in Westport the loss of a full week of recess during the month of February “has had a catastrophic effect upon families who value the relationships of their children with grandparents, uncles and aunts, and other relatives who do not reside in close proximity to them.”
“Both the December recess and the spring recess, which oftentimes include Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter and Passover, mostly provide for a family time of celebration at home, celebrating the religious traditions with their children and friends and relatives living in close proximity,” Landon said.
“A recess in February, traditionally, has permitted Westport parents and children to visit with grandparents and relatives throughout the continental United States and beyond, as they would otherwise be unable to do so at other times within the school year,” he added.
Landon also said that he knows from firsthand experience that the February recess “enables the rash of extended illnesses to be broken as school children are removed from crowded school environments where viruses, colds and other illnesses are shared.”
“Additionally, when schools have been closed during the February recess for an extended nine-day period, the savings of fuel during the coldest month of the year have been substantially reduced,” he added.
Landon added that even if the legislature continues to support “the unnecessary unfunded mandate,” it should to exempt “from punishment or financial penalty, any school district that follows a traditional three full week recess calendar in any school year.”
