Schools

Readers Split on School In-Session During Winter Break

Many voiced their opinions, noting the time off during Sandy was not a vacation at all.

Babylon and West Babylon students are in school this week, hitting the books when many normally would be running around a theme park or on a vacation somewhere else during the Winter Break starting Presidents' Day.

It was not to be this year, though.

Hurricane Sandy made life miserable in October and November, forcing children to miss a week-and-a-half of classes due to the lack of power, heating and overall destruction left behind on the South Shore. In order to make up the missed days, school districts got creative and were forced to take away many vacation days, including much of Winter Break.

Find out what's happening in Babylon Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Babylon students went right back to school on Tuesday, Feb. 19 while West Babylon students were on busses Wednesday morning.

We asked residents' their thoughts on the lost vacation and whether they missed having their children at home this week on our Facebook page.

Find out what's happening in Babylon Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"They had their time off!" wrote Linda Rouse Valenti. "They should be in school now!"

"Yeah, because sitting in our house for 8 days with no heat, no electrictiy and eating cold meatballs was just an amazing vacation," replied Daenene Miller Nelson. "The teachers were told not to start anything new this week or give any tests... good use of time."

Others echoed Nelson's comment.

"The kids are not learning anything they are watching movies.. so what is the point," wrote Paul Yunek. "They didn't have time off as in vacation time a lot lost everything were displaced, stressed about family members.. talk about child abuse!"

Bridid Moran Cruickshank, a teacher, wrote half of her students were missing from the classroom on Wednesday.

"They had us make the kids packets of work they missed (as if that equaled class time)," she said. "I just kept teaching as planned and will have to do a lot of after school help next week."

She added: "Sadly, many of my kids had to cancel college visitations they planned on for the week. It's one of the few weeks high school kids have off & college is in session."


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