Question: What Were The Results Of The Snow Day Poll?
You asked us how Superintendent Olsen's poll on when the five days lost to snow should be made up, we have the answer.
A pie chart from the Superintendent's Office on the poll.
courtesy of Westford Public Schools
Photos (1)
Photos
Pdfs (1)
Pdfs
This week the School Committee announced their plan on how to make up the majority of school days lost to the October snow storm and Hurricane Irene, due in part to a poll given to students, teachers and parents by Superintendent Olsen, which was copied for the general public here on Westford Patch.
Ultimately the board chose to take Tuesday and Wednesday from February and April Vacation under Olsen's advice that further snow days pushing the calendar deeping into June would have a severe impact on scholastic performance.
The advice however did not correspond with the outcome of the poll, which the Superintendent's office told Patch was largely influenced by high school seniors who would be spending those days in June in a relaxed academic environment.
| Option | Total Votes |
| Make no adjustments, allow future snow days to accrue after June 19. | 2,339 |
| Have two days of school during February Vacation and two days of school during April Vacation | 1,342 |
| Have school on four Saturdays between January and May | 978 |
| Cancel February Vacation | 960 |
| Cancel April Vacation | 398 |
CORRECTION: Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the days chosen during the vacations, not Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Tracy LeBlanc
7:16 am on Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thank you, Patch, for posting the results. Just a note that the survey allowed users to submit their answers as many times as they wish, so I'm not sure how accurate the results really were.
Andrew Sylvia
10:26 am on Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thanks Tracy!
Alex Childs
7:23 am on Wednesday, November 23, 2011
I don't understand why they chose to have school on the Tuesday and Wednesday of each vacation week. For people who travel on the holidays, there is no way to salvage a vacation out of that. They should have attached the days to one of the weekends, so there would be more days of vacation in a row.
Andrew Sylvia
10:28 am on Wednesday, November 23, 2011
I believe what Superintendent Olsen said on Monday was he thought it would be better to have two long weekends than one really big weekend and to start up again just to have to stop again for Saturday and Sunday.
lisa cohen
8:24 am on Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Why create a survey that will not matter? Waste of our time.
Andrew Sylvia
10:29 am on Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Hi Lisa, what I was told by the Superintendent's office that the poll was supposed to serve as a guide for the decision, and not be the determining factor in the decision itself.
AB
7:31 pm on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
How does Olsen have any idea who submitted what responses, let alone what their motivations were?
No polls ever truly serve as a guide for anything in this district. If the overriding parent opinions counted for anything, there would be healthier, dessert-free daily lunches and cupcakes or cookies allowed at parties 3 times a year.