Denver Public Schools Late-Start Schedule Days

To:  Denver Public Schools

We, the undersigned family members of Denver Public Schools students, find the district's decision to add six half-days of school to the current year's calendar to be grossly insensitive to the needs of students and their families.

When the district’s negotiation with the union this fall resulted in additional professional development time for teachers, administrators ought to have added three full days of professional development to the calendar to provide for the time. Had DPS done so, KC childcare services could have been made available in the same way that they are offered on other no-school days. The district's decision to institute half days of school for students has forced a great number of parents to take six days off of work instead of three.

Further, the district has had to waste precious resources on communications in relation to this highly problematic arrangement that risks student safety and learning when children are dropped off at school at the wrong time or not provided with lunch.

In addition, each DPS school has had to expend a great deal of time in preparing for the unusual late-start schedule.

As the district found it possible to institute last-minute schedule changes in the fall, it can do so again this winter. We ask the superintendent and school board to recognize and rectify this ill-conceived schedule change by adjusting the 2008-2009 calendar to provide for the additional professional development time for teachers in full-day trainings. This can be accomplished by canceling four of the remaining scheduled half days and consolidating that time into two full days scheduled on Mondays or Fridays in the spring.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Denver Public Schools Late-Start Schedule Days Petition to Denver Public Schools was created by and written by Bonnie Adrian (bonnieadrian@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.