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Newhall parents upset over an elementary school district’s calendar clashing with the Hart district — the two schedules don’t match up for 26 days — called off the walk-out threat at the recent board meeting, for now.
Newhall parents upset over an elementary school district’s calendar clashing with the Hart district — the two schedules don’t match up for 26 days — called off the walk-out threat at the recent board meeting, for now.

Newhall Parents Cancel October Walk-Out As ‘Show Of Good Faith’

Newhall parents upset over the elementary school district’s calendar clashing with the Hart district’s — the two schedules don’t match up for 26 days — called off the walk-out threat at the recent board meeting, for now.


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“We realize that there is still a long way to go in finalizing a calendar,” said Clark Everitt, one of the parents leading the discussion, “but we now have hope that this issue will be resolved and that our voices have been heard.”   

The concerns remain, with the parents noting that beyond increased family care costs, missing family time and even enrollments could be affected.

“I opted to put my son in the district I teach because our local school’s Newhall calendar did not work,” according to a comment by Saugus Union School District teacher Teresa Mobley, which was shared to KHTS News by Everitt. The “Fix Your Calendar” group gathered hundreds of signatures and conducted weeks of outreach regarding their effort to change the schedule.

(The group created a web page with an online petition, which has gathered more than 500 signatures as of Friday. The district has approximately 6,700 students enrolled, according to EdData, the state’s Department of Education website.)

However, citing support from the community and the teachers, the parents called off the October walk-out, which had been scheduled for Oct. 2-3 (two days that don’t align with the Hart district).

The group also seems to leave open the possibility of a June walkout, which was part of the initial threat, in a statement from Everitt.

“As a show of good faith we are calling off the walkout that was scheduled for October 2 and 3,” Everitt said, “and are hopeful that after the 2018-2019 school year is approved, a walkout for the last two weeks of the school year will also no longer be necessary.”

The initial plan was by parents was to move the Newhall School District to the bargaining table with “the power of the purse.”

(Schools are funded in large part by the state for their Average Daily Attendance figure, meaning absences financially hurt schools.) District officials expressed explicit concern actions such as a walk-out would likely only hurt arts and music programs, or potentially staffing, next year.

Previous story: Newhall School District Calendar Quandary Irks Teachers, Parents

For these families, part of the issue is the other three elementary school districts that feed into the William S. Hart School District have significantly fewer “non-synced” days than the Newhall School District.

The group’s social media page notes that while the Newhall School District has 26 days that don’t align with the high school district, the Castaic Union School District has two days; Saugus Union School District has 12; and Sulphur Springs Union School District has 15.

In a previous story, Paul Cordeiro, superintendent for the Newhall School District, stated the reason for the chosen calendar days is not because of an administrative decision, but rather the result of a collective bargaining agreement between district administrators and the teacher’s union.

District officials rationalized that the extra week at spring break and a week off in the fall, allows for a shorter summer, which reduces “summer learning loss,” and provides the best conditions  for students in a trimester schedule who undergo regular testing — requirements of elementary school districts.

Several teachers, members of the district’s teachers union who claimed they received undue criticism over the calendar alignment, showed up to explain why their schedule is different — prompting several parents to share they weren’t upset with the teachers. In fact, some of the parents explained teachers were receiving the brunt of the criticism due to the way many of their previous calendar queries were handled by district administrators.

“In the past few weeks since the last board meeting we have received so much support from the community and from teachers,” Everitt noted. “We love our teachers and are especially grateful that many of them have reached out to us and expressed their support for an aligned calendar.”

 


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Newhall Parents Cancel October Walk-Out As ‘Show Of Good Faith’

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.