180 day rule

[Bill Grau]

All the districts in our county closed on March 16 at the strong recommendation of our county health commisioner.  The Governor is now saying that he authorized a closure as of March 18 so we need to account for the 16th and 17th, we only had one snow day left.  We had our second planned Superintendents conference day on the 13th during which we had our teachers prepare materials for 10-15 days of closure.  We had the teacher report on the 16th to complete the preparation and distribute materials.  The teachers union is saysing that counts as a worked day and if we need to add a day to the end of the year, they need to be paid because it will be the 181st day.  Now add to this the Governor saying he has only authorized closure until 3/31 and our county has told us to stay closed until after Easter.  Are you experiencing the same thing?  How is your district dealing with it?

[Bill Belmont]

But we should not be in a situation where we have to speculate or figure out what’s going to happen. As the governor, as the leader of the state, he should be leading and letting us know that in that if he’s forcing everyone to work through spring break then he should indicate he will end the year early or at the very least explain how we’re supposed to reconcile the 180 day rule with the extended school days.

I can assure you he will not pay for any extra money that need to go towards the teachers For days over 180

[Bill Grau]

UPDATE: Dan Fuller, Deputy Sec. of Ed, indicated in the NYSSBA webinar on Saturday that if your county board of health or executive declared an emergency before the 18th and you closed, you will get a waiver for those days too.

[Sandra Young Klindt]

With the loss of spring break, we are anticipating we may be in the same boat. I am hearing that NYSUT is telling the teachers to "play nice" right now, as it won't go over well with the community if they make a stink when so many other people are without a paycheck. But who knows what will happen when/if schools reopen this spring. If the rest of the year is all distance learning, or Regents are cancelled, then there is the option of ending earlier in June.

[David Fenlong]

We are experiencing at lot of the same questions and situations. We are telling folks that with the current situation and our passion to protect each scholar and staff we will forge ahead and cross those bridges when we need to. We are hoping that the Governor understands, see the impact, the action taken and how everything is aligned with our scholars in mind and there is relief.