Petition for the August 1st Calendar

#185: - recall effort 

 They all need to go voted in or not ! Cobb County School System sould be ashamed ! We stay in the news all the time. They also need to clean house in trasportation. This is so unreal !

#1: Tami Gallagher - Balanced school year calendar 

 I agree with you !

The actions of this council are an embarrassment
And have made this petition necessary to protect our rights

If they are not listening to thee voters now, what is next in store for our children? This board needs to be dismantled!

change our calendar for good.

#183: - Survey is not a vote The survey is not a vote. I know a LOT of people in favor of August 1st who voted many, many times, including their school computers, store computers and iPads, and who told their students how to vote, including at school. Then word got out that you could vote on Internet Explorer AND Firefox on the same device. Let's put it on the ballot in November and see a REAL vote for the calendar.

And let's not forget that we had a calendar in place, voted on by the board, for 2010-2011 and at this time last year the board voted to change it, just like this year, but that time it went from traditional to balanced.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Let's just have some civility. THAT lesson is far more important.

LIKE X 1,000,000,000

#195: - August 15th Is the Best I could care less about all the breaks throughout the year. Have your kids get plenty of rest instead of staying up all hours of the night and they wont need breaks. My family enjoys having the longer summers. They dont get enough time during the summer. We take our vacations in August and it makes it hard for us to plan anything when they start school so dang early. I agree with another person, start school after labor day! What are these children going to do when they grow up, complain because they arent getting a week off every other month?!?! This is real life, we get no breaks!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Guess I'll be paying a little closer attention when it's time to vote for School Board members. Maybe that's where my vote will actually count.

#206: The Truth - Re: Survey is not a vote 

 It's not about a week off from school - it's about three different calendars in three years.  It's about voting on something and sticking to it so people can plan accordingly.  Be careful pointing fingers at other parents...you wouldn't want somebody doing that to you.

#206: The Truth - Re: Survey is not a vote

So now we are providing a petition to show the school board our numbers.  They can email people and confirm the signatures.  Better yet let's have a referendum and settle this issue once and for all.  Saying that the November election was a referendum on the calendar is absurd.

You need to go sign your own petition--it only has 8 signatures.

Parents don't want to spend time with their kids.

I for one can't wait for a longer summer with my kids!

#211: Booking a longer summer vacation with my family. - ******WHAT THIS CRYING TELLS EVERYONE********

All of June and July are not long enough for you to spend time with your kids?  You can't spend time with your kids in September and February?  You statement doesn't make any sense.

#212: they are grasping at straws - Re: ******WHAT THIS CRYING TELLS EVERYONE********

Your statement doesn't make sense--is what I should have said.

The CCS board must listen to the residents and vote the way of the people. Aug 1 start date.

#13: Blake Tippens - Abuse

Agreed!!

If you conduct a survey, you should honor the results of the survey. Clearly the majority prefer the balanced calender.

I am really horrified that the first action of the new board was to prove that they do not represent Cobb County Teachers!

a#176: - The cheating ? As far as our school, it was the teachers who hoarded to the computer rooms to log onto each individual computer and vote as many times as there were computers. There's no way to prove the same person went onto 25-40 computers and voted for her personal opinion since you did not have to give your name. I voted only once since I felt it was unethical to do otherwise. I voted once; she voted 34 times....definitely not on the same playing field and completely distorting the results that have been posted to the public.

 

#16: Eve Wall - Re: Calendar 

 I did not vote for the balanced calendar. I agree with Eve, a lot of the people that did were looking more at the Christmas break.  It was not that they wanted the balanced calendar.  The balanced calendar is fine for the elementary schools.  But, when you have a child in high school, with block scheduling, you will see that it isn't truly a balanced schedule.  The students with classes in the spring have less classroom time to learn the material than the students with the same classes in the fall.  Especially the AP students.  I speak as a parent of one of those students.

#92: Guest - Re: Re: Calendar

New York City calendar is online.  They started on Wednesday, September 8th (yes after Labor Day-then got the 9th and 10th off for Rosh Hashanah-not sure I understand that-why not just start on the 13th?) they will end school on Tuesday, June 28th (I counted a total of 182 days).  They are out of school for the following "breaks"

• Oct. 11-Columbus Day
• Nov. 2-Election Day
• Nov. 11-Veterans Day
• Nov. 25 and 26-Thanksgiving
• Dec. 24-31-Christmas (out the day before Christmas)
• Jan. 17-MLK
• Jan. 31-end of term-no school for High School (exams here I assume after the break-bad idea)
• Feb.1-beginning of Spring Term
• Feb. 21-25-Midwinter Break
• April 18-26-Spring Break (week of Good Friday-Good Monday)
• May 30-Memorial Day
• June 9-Teacher Workday

I think we forget all the days we had off from school in the "good old days" like Columbus Day and Veterans Day (I think I got Washington's and Lincoln's Birthdays too).  We forget that we may have started after Labor Day but we went to school until the end of June.  Kids are under a lot of pressure today, I think much more than I was when I was in school (AP courses and honors classes, extracurriculars, jobs).  Our present calendar is pretty packed with very few days off.  I love my students and I love teaching (I will be in school when they tell me to be there) but I think the KIDS need the September and February breaks to recharge.

#221: C. - Re: Re: Calendar

The calendar has

88 days first semester

92 days second semester

It's about time somebody let's the school board know they have to do as they say.

#218: Robin Wheeler - Board 

Please take into consideration that Cobb Co. teachers were given the same 3 options as everyone else. Not all of these teachers are in favor of the balanced calendar but wanted the week off before Christmas. The percentages are very misleading. "Voted for" and "support" should not be used interchangeably when it comes to the choices that teachers..as well as the rest of the public...made. I have talked with several teachers who live in the neighborhood. Not that "majority" seems to matter, however, the majority of teachers I spoke with did not feel that the balanced calendar was in the best academic interest of the students. They wanted the week prior to Christmas off with their families, and therefore, that's how they voted.