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Update: Students will likely get entire week off for Thanksgiving
Apparently there is a new proposal that might give students in the area the entire week o.... Board members, however, disagree on the idea. Some think it would be helpful since many children don't come the first half of the week anyway. Others think it would be tough on parents who may have to find childcare.
I would personally love for my kids to have the entire week off from school. Many families typically travel for Thanksgiving, and having only a couples days off from school makes it tough to really get somewhere and have time to visit. Plus, I don't think the kids really do much work anyway since it's such a short week.
What do you all think?
**Update: According to an article in The Sun, it looks like students will likely get the entire week off for Thanksgiving. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130205/ARTICLES/130209808/1139...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lauren Herchel on -
Honestly, I would love to have the week off for this upcoming Thanksgiving. My sister is getting married the weekend before Thanksgiving so it would be nice for me to not have to take my kids out of school for that Friday and then that Monday and Tuesday (since there would be no point in driving back to Gainesville for 2 days to only have to drive back down to Orlando that Wednesday. LOL).
As for any other year, I really don't have a preference either way. :)
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Permalink Reply by KC on -
Do kids really need the entire week off? They have 2 whole weeks off just a few weeks later anyway. It also extends the school year by 2 days. I know that my own children had several tests during those 2 days so there is work going on at some schools. I'm sure that childcare will be an issue as well. For working parents who normally rely on the after-school program at the schools, (that wouldn't be open on those two days since the employees would be off) it is going to be difficult to find someplace to send their children for 2 days. In the old days, we used to only have off the Thursday and Friday of that week anyway.
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Permalink Reply by Cherie Schneider on
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As a teacher--I might have 30% of my students in class. We tried doing tests on those two days but had so many makeup tests that it wasn't worth it. Generally those are considered "babysitting" days--you can't do much because so many kids are missing. I say take the whole week off and get rid of UF Homecoming and another teacher workday instead of adding it onto the end of the year. Give families the time together.
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Permalink Reply by KC on
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Politically, you can't get rid of Homecoming ( I'm sure there would be an uproar about that), and Teacher Workdays are guaranteed by contract. In fact, according to data from the school board, the district has almost a 90% attendance rate on the day before Thanksgiving Holidays so kids are coming to school those days...and it's up to the teacher and culture of the school as to what the academic expectations are for those dates. Those that are going to take off those days, will take them off anyway, but for some working parents, that proposal will cause an extra burden for them.
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Permalink Reply by Lori on
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My county has started taking the whole week off for a couple of years now. The neighboring county has been doing this even longer than my county. I love it! I don't know of anyone who has ever complained of it...I teach in my county and I have not heard of any parents complaining of having the whole week off. It is nice to have some time off with my kids during that week. Yes, I can see it being a problem for some with childcare issues. We were skeptical the first year but it has gone smoothly for about 5 years now. We had issues with attendance too. It felt like babysitting because so many students were gone.
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Permalink Reply by Christine Gregory on
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Ditto. My county has done it for 3 years. We found that we had more absences Thanksgiving week than any other time. The goal is to have school on the days when the most students will attend. Also, families as well as teachers appreciate the extra travel time. I haven't heard any complaints either.
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Permalink Reply by Kathy M. on
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The kids already only go to school 180 days a year, right? That's less than half a year. If they get off all Thanksgiving week, I think the school year should be extended to compensate for that. Actually, although this is probably unpopular, I think we should go to year round school, just have more frequent breaks during the school year. American children are falling behind the rest of the world and their brains rot for three months in the summer.
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Permalink Reply by Stacy Fournier on -
I actually kind of like the idea of a year-round school option with more breaks here and there, or at least a shorter summer. I think summer gets a little long and boring for many children. I let my daughter do a handful of week-long camps this past summer to keep her busy, but they were pretty pricey!
Kathy M. said:The kids already only go to school 180 days a year, right? That's less than half a year. If they get off all Thanksgiving week, I think the school year should be extended to compensate for that. Actually, although this is probably unpopular, I think we should go to year round school, just have more frequent breaks during the school year. American children are falling behind the rest of the world and their brains rot for three months in the summer.
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