Jun 26, 2009 4:18 PM
A day after hearing from delegates who were delighted to have the two days before Labor Day restored but anxious about how they’d prepare their classes for the new school year, UFT President Randi Weingarten reached a new side agreement with the City of New York that states that the Tuesday following Labor Day will be used “first and foremost for preparation of the classroom and for the arrival of students.” If time permits, the agreement states, the remainder of the day may be used for professional development.
Classes will begin for students on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Weingarten told the delegates that she had warned the city that it was not advisable for students and teachers to return on the same day and promised that she would continue to press the union’s case with the city that classroom educators needed preparation time on the first work day of the school year.
“I am pleased to report that the city heard our concerns,” Weingarten said after signing the side agreement.
The lost instructional time will be made up at the end of the school year. In the 2009-2010 school calendar as previously released, Friday, June 25, 2010 was a half day of instruction for students and a half day for year-end clerical tasks while the final workday of the school year, Monday, June 28, was a full day of professional development. Under the side agreement, students will have a full day of instruction on Friday, June 25 and early dismissal on the following Monday, with the remainder of that final day set aside for clerical tasks.
Election Day in November and the former Brooklyn-Queens Day in early June will remain full-day professional development days for classroom educators.