Tuesday, Feb 1st 2022 marked the first full day of school for elementary school kids in the Northampton school district following 5 half days allocated for parent/teacher conferences.  Having this many early dismissal days in a row was a burden for parents, caregivers and students. For parents and caregivers it meant having to scramble to find childcare, never easy but even harder in the time of Covid. For kids, it meant another disruption to learning and a change to their routine.

Parent/teacher conferences don't need to be spread out over a week and require half days. Instead, they can be scheduled over 1-2 full days of school.

The good news is that we have an opportunity to change that before the 2022-2023 school year. The schedule for parent/teacher conferences is set by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (See Article IV, Section R on page 38) between the Northampton School Committee and the Northampton Association of School Employees. The current agreement is in place through June 30, 2022. 

Sign and share this petition and let's find a better schedule for parent/teacher conferences.