All-day school schedules

Susan James said:Honestly, I kind of feel like she’s actually reading our posts. She asked if Fuchs would ever send his grandkids to a private prep school, and he basically said his daughters-in-law are already checking out local schools, though they aren't exactly rushing to sign anyone up just yet...🍿

The real question is whether assigning extra work in a full classroom actually helps kids master what they need for a basic quiz or oral exam. If they still fail, who’s really to blame?

hiddenseal14 said:It's an island campus. They deal with unique working conditions.

The problem is that you people are looking at this entirely through a metropolitan lens! For kids living in rural areas, a school isn't just a building—it's their sole gateway to education, their primary hub for culture, and their only real chance at social interaction. For them, this is absolutely vital. One of the fundamental goals of the Department of Education is to bridge the massive gap between urban academic standards and those found in our rural heartlands, and programs like this are essential to achieving that.

Well, that logic is just completely broken, isn't it? 🙂🙂🙂
So, what, we should just screw over the other 90% of American kids just to accommodate that 10% living in remote areas?🙏
I don't even know what else I'm going to read in here today.🤦

jadetinker85 said:The real question is whether assigning extra work in a full classroom actually helps kids master what they need for a basic quiz or oral exam. If they still fail, who’s really to blame?

And how are they supposed to make it happen when they cut an hour of practical lab time from the daily schedule every single day?😂

It seems they read some feedback during a town hall meeting saying people were complaining about kids spending too much time in school. So, at the request of parents and teachers, they slashed an hour of hands-on learning time. It reminds me of how back in 2016, some policymaker decided that since parents waiting for the bus might want more tech classes, she'd just mandate computer science in schools—and now she's upset because her "brilliant" initiative got its funding and time cut in half.

rowdypanther12 said:Sorry, I wasn't there with you 😂
Did she happen to ask how much longer this class will be part of the school schedule? 😳

No, during the intro they mentioned that remedial sessions would run until 2:00 PM, and the specialized subjects will just be one hour longer each day.

Seriously, this Sunny lady, my god 🤦

Check out this clip:

What can parents actually do when they’ve gathered a massive pile of signatures against this CN stuff via petition, but the principal just goes ahead and signs the school up for the project anyway? She’s basically treating our signatures like they don't even exist...

To make matters worse, the PTA wasn't even told there was a discussion happening—even though we all know the president shouldn't be making these calls solo, which is totally out of line here—so the parents' voices are being completely sidelined.

Plus, according to the Education Act, Article 135, Section 3, parents have to give consent for kids to take part in these types of programs (which is exactly where CN falls)... But when you ask what happens to the kids whose parents refuse to sign off? Total radio silence. No one knows!

I get that just filing a complaint doesn't guarantee the Department of Education will actually listen, but honestly... I highly doubt it.

Eric Morgan54 said:What can parents actually do when they’ve gathered a massive pile of signatures against this CN stuff via petition, but the principal just goes ahead and signs the school up for the project anyway? She’s basically treating our signatures like they don't even exist...

To make matters worse, the PTA wasn't even told there was a discussion happening—even though we all know the president shouldn't be making these calls solo, which is totally out of line here—so the parents' voices are being completely sidelined.

Plus, according to the Education Act, Article 135, Section 3, parents have to give consent for kids to take part in these types of programs (which is exactly where CN falls)... But when you ask what happens to the kids whose parents refuse to sign off? Total radio silence. No one knows!

I get that just filing a complaint doesn't guarantee the Department of Education will actually listen, but honestly... I highly doubt it.

Nothing's gonna happen... nothing. It won't stay on the A2 level, period. They don't even have to show up for lunch if they don't want to. I mean, who can legally force them to sit through extra sessions and be forced to "learn" at school?
In the end, it always comes down to whatever the parent decides. Teachers will just log the hours for A2, bill for them, kids stay home, Fox gets to claim they pulled off the reform, and the wolves are fed.
Or, like some principal mentioned to a user on here once: "We'll just deal with it as we go."

If A2 is a mandatory part of the curriculum, then it's pretty straightforward to ensure they show up by marking them absent for unexcused hours.

Isn't that A2 section—the part about feeding kids garbage and forcing them to learn it—actually mandatory?

One half of A2 is mandatory—supposedly running until 2:30 PM—but the other part? Totally optional.

rowdypanther12 said:If A2 is a mandatory part of the curriculum, then it's pretty straightforward to ensure they show up by marking them absent for unexcused hours.

Exactly. Once those unexcused absences pile up, the school is supposed to report them to Child Protective Services. But let’s be real: schools usually won't bother because they don't want the extra paperwork and the massive headache that comes with it. They’ll likely just mark them as excused to keep things moving.

The religious education alternative is also tricky, since it counts as a formal subject. If kids miss too many classes there, they end up having to take those placement exams.

I have two friends who told me right off the bat that since their kids go to music conservatories, they’ll just have them head straight out after their required classes. They plan to bring in certificates from the music school if anyone tries to make a fuss. Honestly, my friends don't think supplemental tutoring is necessary, and they definitely aren't big believers in extra remedial classes. Plus, since their kids are bilingual and attend religious studies, they don't face the same dilemmas I might run into.

Broadly speaking, it’s a tough situation because some kids just won't want to follow these rules (for instance, my oldest wouldn't, since she's quite different from her mom and me), which means they'll end up stuck at school against their will... way longer than they actually need to be.

Eric Morgan54 said:One half of A2 is mandatory—supposedly running until 2:30 PM—but the other part? Totally optional.

Where did you hear that there are actually two parts to A2?

rowdypanther12 said:Where did you hear that there are actually two parts to A2?

https://www.ed.gov/UserDocsImages//d...evna-skola.pdf
Check page 16. It’s the updated version, too.

The old one looked like this, also on page 16.

https://www.ed.gov/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/Natje%C4%8Daji/2023/Kurikulum/CjelodnevnaOsnovna/Eksperimentalni-program-Osnovna-skola-kao-cjelodnevna-skola.pdf

Eric Morgan54 said:What can parents actually do when they’ve gathered a massive pile of signatures against this CN stuff via petition, but the principal just goes ahead and signs the school up for the project anyway? She’s basically treating our signatures like they don't even exist...

To make matters worse, the PTA wasn't even told there was a discussion happening—even though we all know the president shouldn't be making these calls solo, which is totally out of line here—so the parents' voices are being completely sidelined.

Plus, according to the Education Act, Article 135, Section 3, parents have to give consent for kids to take part in these types of programs (which is exactly where CN falls)... But when you ask what happens to the kids whose parents refuse to sign off? Total radio silence. No one knows!

I get that just filing a complaint doesn't guarantee the Department of Education will actually listen, but honestly... I highly doubt it.

None.
Your voice on the school board represents just one of seven votes.
You could potentially file a report with the state inspectorate, but frankly, the principal has quite a bit of autonomy here.

rowdypanther12 said:If A2 is a mandatory part of the curriculum, then it's pretty straightforward to ensure they show up by marking them absent for unexcused hours.

I saw this happen once with an elective class. Kids basically stopped showing up starting in November. The teachers were stressing out, logging all these absences, and the parents just stood their ground. They went straight to the principal and were like, "Fine, mark them absent. Let's see who blinks first." Once the principal realized the parents weren't backing down or pulling kids out, she just scrapped the whole elective language program and wiped the attendance record clean. You can pretty much manipulate any system if you try hard enough.

The Department of Social Services—those people are already drowning in paperwork as it is, and now they’re gonna waste even more time dealing with some random school issue? Unbelievable.

How can a principal go about canceling an elective course?

Larry Walker24 said:I saw this happen once with an elective class. Kids basically stopped showing up starting in November. The teachers were stressing out, logging all these absences, and the parents just stood their ground. They went straight to the principal and were like, "Fine, mark them absent. Let's see who blinks first." Once the principal realized the parents weren't backing down or pulling kids out, she just scrapped the whole elective language program and wiped the attendance record clean. You can pretty much manipulate any system if you try hard enough.

The Department of Social Services—those people are already drowning in paperwork as it is, and now they’re gonna waste even more time dealing with some random school issue? Unbelievable.

This is absolutely appalling. A principal should never have allowed such a thing to happen. She ought to have let that teacher leave them with failing grades and then stood her ground to see how the district would react to the fallout. This is precisely why we find ourselves in this mess, constantly bending over backward for every entitled parent who demands something.

And no, you cannot just fix everything with a stroke of a pen. Especially not by canceling an elective that becomes a mandatory requirement once a student selects it.

Man, if I were actually that lady, everyone would be scrambling to file complaints with the inspectors, the Department of Education, the local county offices, and even the NCES—you just know there’d be a massive, endless chain reaction of people trying to overturn every single decision made.

Sarah Hall53 said:Man, if I were actually that lady, everyone would be scrambling to file complaints with the inspectors, the Department of Education, the local county offices, and even the NCES—you just know there’d be a massive, endless chain reaction of people trying to overturn every single decision made.

I truly hope this all turns out to be nothing more than some tall tale.

What really gets to me is how much of a man-child my colleague is—he just casually tosses around phrases like he’s some kind of victim being "harassed" by everyone.
I honestly wonder what his plan is if his students just decide to stop showing up entirely because they're done with chemistry. Would he actually bother filing the truancy reports, or would he just shrug his shoulders and pretend it isn't his problem?