Should the Prince William County School Board close schools for students on Inauguration Day? Please take 30 seconds to complete this survey and share it with your friends:
http://survey.sogosurvey.com/survey.aspx…
History:
In December 2008, after Barack Obama was elected but before he took the oath of office, the Prince William County School Board voted 5-3 (Yes: Covington, Lattin, Lucas, Otaigbe, Ramirez. No: Johns, Richardson, Trenum) to close schools on Inauguration Day and open them on President's Day beginning in January 2009 and all future Inauguration Days.
In 2013, Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday so the calendar didn't need to be changed.
In December 2015, at the final school board meeting of their term, the previous school board discussed closing on Inauguration Day but ultimately voted unanimously to keep schools open on Inauguration Day, which was 13 months away.
The current school board can change the calendar if it so chooses.
Things to consider:
We essentially have three options:
1) Keep the calendar as is
2) Close on Inauguration Day but use a "snow day" and still remain closed on President's Day.
3) Close on Inauguration Day by trading out President's Day for Inauguration Day as described in the motion from 2008.
Keeping the calendar as it currently stands is less disruptive but does force those who want to attend or watch Inauguration Day to miss school/work.
Closing on Inauguration Day by using a "snow day" is a risk. We could have a winter where we need to add the to calendar and the school day like we did two years ago or we could have a winter with a few extra unused snow days like we did last year. The bigger issue with closing on a day that wasn't planned is what it does to lower income families who haven't budgeted for the extra day of daycare. It isn't easy to find the extra money for more day care or a family member to fill that role. Many families will be forced to take the day off of work and use vacation days when they weren't intending to use it. This disproportionally impacts lower income families especially those who are paid hourly. On a normal snow day fewer families are impacted because the adverse road conditions wouldn't allow parents to get to work anyway.
Trading out President's Day for Inauguration Day is neutral on class time but it does force those who have plans for the President's Day holiday to possibly change their plans or even miss school because of the unforeseen change to the calendar. It also has negative consequences on lower income families as mentioned previously.
Future years:
If this school board votes on the 2020-21 school calendar I would likely support swapping out Inauguration Day for President's Day but at least it would be done well ahead of time so families could plan. Doing so late, like it or not, has unintended consequences.
In conclusion:
The school board could discuss this issue. What do you think? Please click on the link to give your opinion on this informal survey. Comments below will not count towards the vote total. Please feel free to share this survey with your friends.