Unexpected School: A Student's Worst Nightmare

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

09 Jul 2009 06:33 AM

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Wal-Mart has already started stocking its back-to-school supplies.

So long beach towels and sun chairs.

The area, where just last week, I picked up a mini cooler for my daughter's summer soccer camp is now filled with pencils, pens, paper and shiny new scissors.

The new arrangement was met by more than just a few sighs from the parent-shoppers I passed. If Wal-Mart's back-to-school displays are disconcerting for them, imagine how it must feel for students and parents in Southern California.

Thanks to a clerical error, kids at Dickson Elementary in Chino and Rolling Ridge Elementary in Chino Hills are still in school.

Sadly, hundreds of elementary school students were made to pay for a superintendent's slip-up. According to reports, the students are in the process of making up 34 days of school, during what would be their summer recess.

School leaders say they had no choice since not doing so would have cost the district more than $7 million in state funds. California law states that schools', which make use of abbreviated days during the regular school year (the short days allow teachers time for preparation) must be at least 180 minutes. However, an internal audit in May found 34 days at the two schools that were only 170 or 175 minutes.

If you do the math, that missing time could have been made up in just one or two school days. Unfortunately for students, an addendum in the state law says the short days don't count at all. That means every one of the 34 days must be made up to avoid the penalty in state funds.

Officials at California's Department of Higher Education told news reporters that the rule was intended to make the penalties stiff to discourage districts from "shaving off minutes here and there."

So who is to blame for robbing hundreds of kids of their full summer break?

Apparently, one of the district's associate superintendents has taken responsibility for the error. Oh, and by the way, she is retiring this year. Though, I'd bet she won't be able to ride off into retirement without enduring a few nasty stares by students... and a couple flat tires. I'm just sayin'.

To make it up to students, administrators say the unexpected summer session will feature extra arts, music and science, and allow kids to play outside more.

Still, that's little consolation to some students, especially one fourth-grader, who summed up his frustration with this classic line: "I think it's dumb that they have to go to school for these extra days because some lady messed up."

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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