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Sudbury’s school committees face an ethical dilemma when it comes to their school calendar decision. It’s an unenviable position to be in, to say the least.
Every group in the school communities has a valid need and there is no calendar option that is a win-win for everyone. The SC is tasked with considering the needs of every group and considering how to move forward as a public school institution operating within established laws.
It’s important to appreciate the extraordinary diversity of considerations and the magnitude of the balancing act the school committees are undertaking. Here is an incomplete list of groups with valid needs within this calendar dilemma.
Religious Communities
Members from each religious group have a need for their deeply meaningful holy days to be spent in observance. They also have a need for equity across religions according to our district’s equity statement. Students have a need to feel seen/heard/respected for their religious identity and that their identity is equally as valued as part of the SPS/LS community as other religious identities. Students have a need to not miss out or fall behind on academic instruction, tests, and school community events in order to observe their religion. Each group also needs to feel supported, included, and safe at school.
Students with Behavioral Issues and Disabilities
Disruptions in routine can deeply and negatively impact this group. Days off and school breaks can be dysregulating and stressful for the entire family. Students and families experience gaps in therapeutic services and support services (like aids, etc). Depending on the specific needs of that child, finding alternative child care for days off can be extremely difficult. The average babysitter may not be able to support that child’s needs. Child care programs for the day may not be able to support that child’s needs. These families may be unable to work on days off, even if this negatively impacts their job, requires them to use PTO or unpaid time, costs them lost wages, and continuity at work.
Low Income Families
These families face financial burdens to accommodate days off. Childcare can cost $100+ for the day. Students that rely on the two free meals from school will not receive them, additionally costing the family money for the day. Many lower paying jobs do not offer PTO and can have a very limited number of unpaid days off allowed. If the family cannot find childcare, they may have to take days off from work against their employers wishes, negatively impacting their job security.
Dual Working Families
If the family is unable to find affordable child care for the day, these families will either need to use PTO, unpaid time off, or do the “Covid Shuffle” with young kids where you pass them back and forth between meetings while trying to both work at home. Accommodating days off can be stressful for these families and negatively impact job performance.
Single Parent Families
Many of the needs listed under low income families or dual working families may also apply here. These families may need to use a disproportionate amount of their PTO or unpaid time off to accommodate days off. Similarly, if they have to work AND have their kids, this can be stressful and negatively impact job performance.
School Staff
Staff have a variety of needs related to the calendar. This can include religious observances, training and prep time, start of the year/end of the year calendar needs, and the need for consistency for their students/class. When students come back dysregulated from gaps in school/services/support, our teachers are the ones that carry the burden to regulate their students and get the class back into routines that support learning.
Again, this is not an exhaustive list of groups with valid needs or that every need within a group was listed. However, even in incomplete form, it illustrates the complexity of the decision before the school committees.
It’s ultimately a no-win situation. It calls upon the entire community to summon the empathy to understand that each of our preferred solutions will negatively impact another portion of the community. People who feel passionately about a specific outcome may want to consider what other groups would be negatively impacted by that same outcome and advocate to the school committees for solutions to support those groups.
Rather than pitting one group against another, or pressuring the committees to pull off an impossible balancing act, the community has an opportunity to support each other with empathy and respect.