By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — A last-minute decision to call off school on Good Friday has upset local parents who have had to scramble to arrange child care for the unanticipated day off. Some were also annoyed that the decision will result in an extension of the school year by an additional day in June. Others remain troubled by the original decision three years ago to eliminate from the school calendar a religious holiday observed by many families in the community.
The local teachers’ union also had a problem with the school administration’s entire handling of the Good Friday issue, and the union leadership made their objections known at Tuesday’s School Committee meeting.
At about 8:30 p.m. on Monday, April 11, the Superintendent Doug Lyons and the Wakefield Public Schools “administrative team” sent the following email to parents:
“We apologize for the late notice. We have made the decision to close the Wakefield Public Schools on Friday, April 15, 2022. We have received notice that a number of staff will need to be out of school to observe the religious day, Good Friday.
“This decision is made out of an abundance of caution and a focus on staffing our schools with enough personnel to open and operate safely. The day will be made up at the end of the year as we would make up a snow day. With this day added to the two snow days we had this year, our last day of school for students will now be Friday, June 24, 2022.”
During public participation at the start of Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, Wakefield Education Association president Erin Chrisos outlined the union’s position on the Good Friday issue. She was joined by union vice president Florence Martin and past president Will Karvouniaris.
“We want to be very clear with the community that the WEA and the educational staff were allowed zero input into the decision made three years ago to remove Good Friday from the list of observed holidays,” Chrisos said. “Though discussed at bargaining on a Monday, the committee moved to remove it the very next night. WEA concerns were ignored. The WEA would have surveyed members, had we been asked. The WEA would have continued to offer alternative calendar options, had we been asked. The WEA would have worked collaboratively to open schools safely this Friday, had we been asked.
“But, we were never asked. For a district that heavily promotes the use of data informed decisions, it is perplexing that the decision to remove Good Friday was intentionally made without any,” Chrisos continued. “The tone of the email that staff received from Superintendent Lyons last week regarding the potential need to close schools on Good Friday frustrated many educators, due to the significant notice many gave their administration. The district has known for at least a month that staffing was an increasing concern. As we were given no input into the ongoing problem-solving and ultimate decision to close schools, we cannot speak to the late notice families received. That is strictly an administrative issue,” Chrisos said.
“We’ve received comments indicating that teachers are taking the day because they are tired,” the union president added.
“Please know, we are tired. We are tired of decisions being made without our input. We are tired of raising concerns about these decisions and being ignored. We are tired of shouldering the blame for administrative decisions that are the result of a faulty process. But, please know we are never tired of teaching. We are never tired of working to ensure high quality educational experiences for your children. We are never tired of fighting for our students’ needs.
“While many of the current committee members were not a part of the original vote, you can be a part of the solution. As you look towards next year, you have time to be proactive. You have time to ask families and educators what works for them. There is no excuse for this issue in the future. Failure to plan accordingly and failure to hear the input of those impacted is a choice, but so is collaboration with all stakeholders. Make the right choice for Wakefield’s students, families and educators.”
Superintendent Lyons also addressed the issue at Tuesday’s School Committee meeting.
“We apologize to parents for the late notice,” Lyons said. “We do know that this creates a specific difficulty for families, for working parents. Our difficulty is that we need an appropriate number of staff to be able to open and run our buildings effectively and safely.”
Lyons said that he did agree with the union on one thing.
“We do need to figure out a better system so that this isn’t a year over year problem,” Lyons said, adding that he looked forward to working on the issue after Spring Break.
School Committee Chair Suzy Veilleux agreed.
“It’s really important that we figure this out for next year,” she said. “Many of us heard from some Jewish families about them being in the crossfire of being blamed for this and we can’t have kids and families feeling that way. So we need to figure this out. I know it’s complicated. I was at this table when we made this decision (to eliminate Good Friday as a school holiday). Never did I think that it would be this hard.
“My hope is that we can figure it out early and come to an agreement that gets kids and families out of the middle of being blamed for something that is not their fault,” Veilleux concluded.
