Yeshiva Sanity: Making an Effort

Monday, November 5, 2012

Making an Effort

Hope everyone is warm & safe. Refuah Shelemiah to anyone who was hurt in the storm and our electrical grid should make a speedy recovery as well.

I think all of the local area schools did their best to open as quickly as possible as soon as electricity was available and it was safe to do so. They also mostly used email, facebook, texting to keep all of the parents informed and many of them opened up to parents who needed electricity. Many also opened before the local public schools did. BPY opened on Thursday when most of Paramus was still in the dark. SAR in Riverdale moved quickly to find space in local shuls to have classes.

But they really need to make up the days missed. I'm glad they all cancelled the wasteful teacher training day scheduled for election day (tomorrow) but it still doesn't cover the 4 or 5 days missed. Usually there are 2 days alloted for snow emergency days but they might still be needed for the winter.

I think they can get rid of the Chanukah day, New Year's, the Thursday before Yeshiva Week, Erev shavuot, teacher in-service & day have school until the last Monday in June. Thoughts?

[UPDATE: As reported by NBC New York:

New York City public school students who got an unexpected break because of Sandy will be seeing their winter break in February cut to make up for it.

City officials announced Monday that the last three days of that week, February 20-22, will be full school days instead of vacation days. Another half-day in June will now be a full class day as well.]

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tesyaa · 647 weeks ago

Many public schools are staying open on Thursday & Friday instead of closing for the now-cancelled NJEA convention, but I am hearing that many teachers have vacation plans and there will be a lot of substitute teachers. Don't know what the kids will learn, but at least they will get back into the routine of going to school.

Good luck getting yeshiva teachers to give up their Chanukah break and erev shavuos. If you ask me - teachers who don't work on days when school is rescheduled should face some consequences, but I'm not sure what those should be. They should be docked vacation days, at the very very least.

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Isaac Shalev · 647 weeks ago

Out of curiosity, what is the point of making up the missed days? Is it to ensure that the kids learn everything they're supposed to? Or is it to take out our frustrations from the storm on teachers?

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guest · 647 weeks ago

Yeshiva Dad - Good post. I think we can ALL agree that opening up school as many days as possible per year is key to results. When I say results I am not saying providing babysitting to parents, but for the children's sake ONLY.

On a different front, please keep in mind ZERO kids walk to Yeshiva. Public schools often have 50-75% of their children walking to / from school. Even if power is one, if the local police and fire department says hundreds of tree limbs remain dangling on streets and dozens of live wires are on roadways, they school CANNOT open. That is not the PS fault, but just the way the system functions - many walking to / from. I have learned that many public schools, including Teaneck, has school is session this Thursday and Friday, days previously scheduled as OFF days for a teacher's convention in Atlantic City. Also, unlike some other private schools, public schools have a track record of cancelling days off and extending the school year to ensure statutory minimum days or BEYOND are covered.

On either front, I hope everyone is safe, warm and comfortable, given the circumstances and finds a way to help a neighbor less fortunate.

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JEC parent · 647 weeks ago

I don't know what the JEC is doing about the missed week, but I do know that they're helping families affected by Sandy.
If families don't have power, the JEC is providing them with lunch so the parents don't have to worry about it.
They made part of their building available as soon as it was powered for people to come and get warm, charge their electronics, and just have a place to stay.

The JEC is special in that it is a real community school, and looks out for the community it belongs to.

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Guest · 647 weeks ago

Bpy did the same as jec

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yeshiva dad · 647 weeks ago

I think all schools did that & they deserve credit

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JS (hello) · 647 weeks ago

If this is a bad winter, I have no idea what the schools (public or yeshiva) are going to do. I think missing 1+ week of school is already going to play havoc with the schedule.

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guest · 647 weeks ago

JS you have a great point, especially considering the jewish holidays are mostly weekdays, adding to the number of days "missed" that may not otherwise be missed and cannot be just cancelled as "missed days" as they are holidays.

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Guess my name · 647 weeks ago

tesyaa: "If you ask me - teachers who don't work on days when school is rescheduled should face some consequences, but I'm not sure what those should be. They should be docked vacation days, at the very very least. "

Really? Hmmm. Do you think all employers in NY and NJ should do the same for their employees, or is it only yeshivas that you single out? Bear in mind that if you penalize employees for m issing work due to the fact that their office was closed, you are breaking the law.

Do you even have any kids in yeshiva anyway?

2 replies · active 647 weeks ago

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Guess my name · 646 weeks ago

"Certainly, if a teacher is unavailable on a day that is rescheduled, that teacher must be allowed to use his or her allotted vacation time."

That is clearly NOT the case here. It's not the teacher's fault he or she couldn't work.. The school was closed. Why penalize the teacher by taking their holidays away from them? Your exact words were "They should be docked vacation days, at the very very least. ". That sounds like punishment to me.

3 replies · active 646 weeks ago

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Alexis · 646 weeks ago

YD -- One thing I think is not fully accurate in your post. Not every school opened as soon as it had power. HeAtid in fact never lost power, yet did not re-open until Friday. If it was unsafe to reopen before, they never explained why. (And as you point out, BPY re-opened safely on Thursday, the moment they had power.)

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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Sora · 646 weeks ago

Alexis - Correct Hea'tid never lost power, but if you are a parent in the school, you received emails and phone calls that explained that despite having power, the Bergenfield police would not allow them to open, due to safety issues (these issues included a lack of phone service which is required by the Bergenfield fire department).

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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End Welfare · 646 weeks ago

Alexis [deleted] - Heatid wanted to desperately open last week but the Bergenfield police department asked them not to. If you have a problem, take it up with the Bergenfield PD, but don't come here and bash Heatid.

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guest · 646 weeks ago

Sora: Please stop your constant defense of He'Atid. I have spoken to He'Atid parents that are embarrassed for your rants and defense at all costs of He'Atid. This is not a response to your above posts, but your posts in general. I know you think their subsidized program can do no wrong. We all know that. However, your posts are kinda getting ridiculous. It is worth noting that some schools used off-site facilities, like EMPTY shuls to have classes. He'Atid had options, just like other schools. Obviously, with only 118 students, they had a lot more flexibility on possible locations.

Finally, I don't think this should turn into "yeshiva politics". We have people dead in NJ over this storm. Nearly a million still without power, a week later. But please, some of these comments are just over the top - in general...not just here.

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Sora · 646 weeks ago

Guest - He'atid had school on Friday - that is earlier than any other school except for BPY. And I know many legacy school parents who are embarassed about people like you who take any opportunity to bash He'atid. Why shouldnt I defend the school my kids go to if i am a very happy parent? And to add - my 'rants' as you call them are usually only in response to idiotic things that other people say. Interesting that you mention the storm and people dying and that we should focus on that AFTER you tell me what an embarassment I am.

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GUEST · 646 weeks ago

Dear Parents,
School will not be in session, tomorrow November 1, 2012. As we indicated yesterday, while the school building does have power, the Town of Bergenfield continues to believe that the conditions are still unsafe at this time.

We will be in contact tomorrow after getting further information from the Town regarding Friday.

Please remain safe, and know that Rabbi Gralla and all of the teachers are looking forward to having your children back in school.

Rabbi Gralla
Ora Kornbluth

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GUEST · 646 weeks ago

Notification from: Yeshivat He'Atid
Dear Parents,
We hope that everyone is safe. We have been working throughout the day in an attempt to open school tomorrow. Thank G-d, we have power in the building but there are other logistical and safety hurdles that have to be overcome before we can resume school. After speaking to the police and fire departments, we have been advised that it would unfortunately not be safe to open school tomorrow.

We know that every day of school missed is both detrimental to our children's education as well as a tremendous inconvenience to our parent body. If there was any way to safely open school tomorrow, we would. We will be doing everything in our power to hopefully re-open school on Thursday.
When we re-open (hopefully on Thursday), we will likely be in need of parent volunteers during the day to be in the building to ensure that we are properly staffed and help with anticipated logistical issues. If you can volunteer even for a short period of time, please email me ASAP.

Thank you

Rabbi Netanel Gralla Ora Kornbluth

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thatguy · 646 weeks ago

just a note -- Teaneck Public schools are still out tomorrow I believe. Some Rockland county schools are out as well. Bergen County schools that resumed today should be commended, not taken to task, and teachers who showed up even though they might not have had power, themselves, should be recognized for the professionals that they are, not criticized or punished due to circumstances beyond their control. Taking away scheduled vacation days when people (teachers included) might have made plans already seems rather capricious.

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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guest · 646 weeks ago

I know teachers that have plans out of town during Yeshiva Break - Florida, cruises, etc. Many are leaving the first night or day of Yeshiva break. At this point, we cannot add that to the calendar.

TPS are being used all over town as polling stations. This was a scheduled day off for students due to the polling stations, but is a professional workshop day for staff.

1 reply · active 645 weeks ago

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

guest,

Why can't you change your ticket to a Thursday night flight? If you're taking a cruise Sunday morning you can still make it in plenty of time.

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guest · 646 weeks ago

YD, which vacation days will you be giving up this year in order to make up the few that you missed for the storm? Thanksgiving Day? New years? President's? Memorial Day?

Surely your boss was sympathetic, as I think most were.....

2 replies · active 646 weeks ago

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guest · 646 weeks ago

I wish your post would have just been positive about the schools for once. The schools have done an amazing job communicating & supporting families. Admin & Teacher's at BPY last week were commuting in from Staten Island, Queens, Westchester, since their own homes were without power - all worried about running out of gas etc etc - just to give the kids a sense of normalcy.

I think they deserve Kudo's!

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

guest,

I agree. Did you even read my post?

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

By the way guest this is what I wrote in the comments section on Friday, "BPY did do an excellent job of opening quickly & helping out the parents by letting them hang out, enjoying the heat, power & electricity."

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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guest · 646 weeks ago

Why should someone pay for a change fee. I know around 10 families taking a cruise out of NYC on Thursday, first day of vacation, including a couple of school employees. Perhaps, we should thank our teachers and admins, many who have been tirelessly concerned about their students, while they dont have power, to service our children. Perhaps a better suggestion is to extend school 2-4 days at the end of the year. Perhaps, 2 days a week extend school for 45 minutes to make up some time...but that is only if you think academically children need this. To do this to knock teachers and school employees is just not right. All government offices, but for emergency personnel were off - should they know have to work next 5-6 weekends to make up for this time? Crap happens and we need to improve our state's infrastructure, not bash teachers or schools. I believe Noam even held classes at the end of last week off-site. Teachers and admins went beyond the call of reasonable duty to help us.

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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guest · 646 weeks ago

I did read your post - it was a backhanded compliment - kudos to them - but then let's take away their vacation days and "wasteful" professional development.

can you honestly say your post was wholeheartedly complimentary??

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

It was wholeheartedly complimentary. In addition there is a need for make up days. This is not a punishment. Reducing the days of school for the year would be punishing the students. Maybe we can have 1 or 2 fewer days than scheduled but certainly not 5 days!

The "professional development" is wasteful. Again, that's not a knock at the teachers or admins but a simple fact. These lectures that the teachers have to listen to can easily be put into written form that the teachers can read on their own time. No reason to cancel a whole day of classes for that.

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

By the way I'm really tired of the strawman argument that wanting to add days to the school year equals "bashing" or "knocking" teachers.

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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Happy to be saving · 646 weeks ago

No sense in taking away Jan break days. It will just annoy people (parents and teachers alike). Get rid of silly Chanukah day off (what is that anyway?? last I checked it's not a yom tov), president's day, and add a couple of days at the end. Done.

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

Problem with having school President's day is you may not be able to get bus service

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guest · 646 weeks ago

Public school teachers were working this Thursday and Friday. They had union contract which permits them to attend teacher's conference rather than teach. The unions, which I usually oppose, graciously worked with PS administrators and agreed to put children first and add back 2 days - so MOST ps districts will be in school Wed - Friday this week.

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guest · 646 weeks ago

I think the idea, especially for older grades of just extending day 45 or 60 minutes a dozen or 2 dozen times through end of year will get in the missed academic time if that is poster's concern. To ask teachers or parents to change vacation plans for December or January is not right - expensive and last minute.

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thatguy · 646 weeks ago

have school on the following (I'm basing this on the 2 calendars in my lap) -- March 22, Feb 18, Dec 10 (if the school has off), May 14 (half day at least if the school has nothing). That is at least 2 if not 3 or 4 days back.

If you have to touch Winter break I think it is fair to have the vacation begin either Thursday afternoon or Friday though at this late date, it would be tough to take that Wed/Thurs back). I don't know why yeshiva "week" is anything more than a Shabbos to the next Sunday but I can accept Friday as a travel day.

Maybe if we use this blog to post suggestions and hash out the arguments, instead of calling each other names or accusing one group/school or another of being "the problem" we can agree on something and the info (and the consensus) can be floated to one of the important people who, no doubt, troll this place.

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

There's a survey on the right where you can pick which days you think should be added back to the school calendar

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thatguy · 646 weeks ago

Nicely done. I feel better about my vote here than the one I cast this morning.

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Alexis · 646 weeks ago

ThatGuy - If you don't like your vote this morning, go vote again! I understand there is no ID check . . .

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guest · 646 weeks ago

i walked in, gave a name, they said is that it, i said yes, signed and voted. WOW...i could have sent my brother or neighbor to vote for me.

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Avi Greengart · 646 weeks ago

JFS actually had school on *Thursday* (and Friday and Monday and Tuesday; Tuesday was supposed to be off). There was busing on Thursday from one accessible location in Teaneck; Friday we had to drive them because there was simply no gas for the bus. Our non-Jewish bus driver sat in the long gas lines over the weekend on his own time, and busing resumed on Monday. My wife's office was inaccessible last week and we had no power or heat at home until last night, so JFS became her office on Friday.

I was similarly impressed with HeAtid. Plenty of communication across multiple media, and they opened as soon as Bergenfield PD would let them. Friday there was no busing and the day was compressed, but at least my son could get out of the cold and back to some sort of routine. I work from home when I'm not on the road, and HeAtid welcomed me into their building for power/heat/connectivity - and even food! - on Friday as well.

I am in no way implying that other local schools were less than exemplary (I have no idea) - just expressing hakarat hatov (thanks) to JFS and HeAtid for going above and beyond.

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Guest · 646 weeks ago

Moriah just announced that the following calendar changes:
Weds before Thanksgiving is now full day 0.5 days gained
Friday March 22 is now full day
Last day of school is now Friday June 21 (gain 1.5 days)
Those plus election day is 4 days
Additionally, Moriah was prepared to have class in Ahavath Torah on Monday if power had not been restored.

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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Happy to be saving · 646 weeks ago

Kol HaKavod to Moriah. I hope the others follow suit.

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Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 646 weeks ago

From Yavneh:

"We have been informed that Paramus public schools will announce a two hour delay for Thursday, November 8th. Therefore Yavneh will have a two hour delay as well."

Paramus public schools have children that walk to their schools so it was dangerous to open on time. I don't think anyone in Yavneh walks to school so why do they have to follow the Paramus public schools?

Noam and BPY are in Paramus as well and they both opened on time.

Obviously safety comes first but I don't really see a safety issue here, with 1-2 inches of snow on the ground. In some cases the buses showed up at their stops at the regular time (I guess they weren't told about the delay) so they obviously didn't see a safety issue either.

1 reply · active 646 weeks ago

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Happy to be saving · 646 weeks ago

if the yeshivot want to copy the public schools let them copy 180 days too!

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tesyaa · 646 weeks ago

In general, yeshivot follow public school schedules when busing is actually provided by the municipality. If bus drivers are on a snow day or delayed opening schedule for public schools, they will follow the same schedule for private schools.

If the yeshivot use private bus companies (even if the municipality is paying the cost), the yeshivot have more freedom to make their own schedules.

In the case of a major storm, it's likely that local police would have input into whether private schools should close along with public schools.

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guest · 646 weeks ago

it is beyond public safety and police recommendations. There are other factors. Yavneh has steep driveways coming in and out of their property. Many school bus companies have drivers running several routes in the morning, and if the drivers are moved 1 or 2 hour delays by one school, all schools using that company must follow suit, so that the driver can follow his MULTI SCHOOL routes, just harmonize them with a 1 or 2 hour delay.

This knocking every school and microcosm approach of the schools is getting ridiculous. I believe there is a general consensus that Yavneh is the strongest academic parochial jewish school in area, or among the top, and to knock them because something out of their control took place is inappropriate.

Let's get back to the mom and pop real issues that caused the general crisis in town. While many understood that these schools cannot offer same services, programs and quality as the public school, for religious and other reasons, people wanted these private parochial schools for the children, but costs of 12 - 17,500 per child, after tax, for K - 8 and 23 - 28k after tax for hs has caused a crisis that will lead much more serious issues down the road - people not being able to retire, or retiring with insufficient savings, debts that are not sustainable, homes with no equity due to HELOC to cover tuition, etc. That is the crisis and purpose of most people's concerns. Not, does this school serve breakfast when the power is out or did they open at 10 AM or 8 AM during a snow storm.

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food for · 646 weeks ago

does anyone else have an issue with heatid calling its upcoming event an "open house"? they arent opening THEIR house to anyone. they should call it a promotional meeting at a local shul. and why dont they have their open house at their school? are they worried that their glorified pre-school with no gym, no facility, etc will scare off families? food for thought...

3 replies · active 646 weeks ago

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