Good evening.
I apologize for the timing of this message, but I have important information to share with you.
Given the recent events in Connecticut, there have been numerous rumors circulating in our district, and in neighboring districts, about potential threats of violence against students. Additionally, rumors connected to the Mayan calendar predicted end of the world on Friday have also surfaced. These rumors of violence have been thoroughly investigated and determined to be false. There have been no credible threats made against any of our students. However, these rumors have been a serious distraction for students, teachers, administrators, and parents. Therefore, given the significant disruption to the teaching and learning process, I have decided, along with my fellow superintendents of Lapeer County, to cancel school for both Thursday, December 20th, and Friday, December 21st. This includes all after school extracurricular events, programs and athletic contests and practices. Although we in the county are reluctant to cancel school because the rumors are unsubstantiated, we feel it is the most appropriate decision given the gravity of recent events and our present circumstances.
On behalf of the Board of Education, teachers, administrators, and support personnel, I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We look forward to working with your children when school resumes on Monday, January 7th. Have a wonderful and enjoyable break!!
Matt Wandrie
Superintendent
Lapeer Community Schools
The Bolt 
Are you serious? There are days when the roads are dangerous and icy, but school is not cancelled, yet you’re cancelling it for unsubstantiated rumors and the Mayan calendar??? What about parents who work and don’t have an immediate solution to the kids being home unsupervised? The kids may learn from this that all they have to do to get some extra time off is start a rumor. I apologize if this seems to be harsh candor, but I think this decision is unwarranted.
did it just say we are not going to school because of the end of the world
No. It did not.
Not comforting. We need locked down buildings with swipe cards and a secured lobby where no one but students and teachers can get past. Corporations have it…why can’t we have it for an institution where we entrust the most valued of things in our lives…our children.
Exactly! Voice of reason.
what about the fieldtrips this is going to break their hearts
my daughter was unhappy about missing her field trip to Frankenmuth, but when I explained to her why these steps were being taken, she was okay with it.
Please add me to email list
No wonder the youth of America are below avg… they are in school a mere 4 months per year!!!
There is a required amount of time that the children must attend school and it’s definitely more than 4 months. Good for the school board for protecting my family.
The schools and community could have used these situations to teach so many valuable lessons… sad.
How about as a parent YOU teach YOUR child the lessons? Stop leaving it to the schools to do the parenting that YOU signed up for when YOU had children! Teachers have enough to do – now you want to add teaching the children about not making threats against others? If all parents taught their child morals and making good choices, these threats wouldn’t happen.
My wife is a teacher and I have spent my life teaching children. We live in a world where things are going to become increasingly more challenging for children and for our communities. We must not over react to threats. Sandy Hook was not something new. Just like terrorist attacks will not be limited to 9/11. Making reactionary decisions to close schools teaches children to overeact to situations.
As for the responsibility of schools, I think you are mistaken. It is not the responsibility of public schools to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic…. that’s a falacy pushed upon us by No Child Left Behind. It is the responsbility of public schools to:
= To prepare children for citizenship
= To cultivate a skilled workforce
= To teach cultural literacy
= To prepare students for college
= To help students become critical thinkers
= To help students compete in a global marketplace
Our schools are woefully under funded and our class sizes are too large to really meet these objectives, but these are still the objectives.
Your comment is very thoughtful, but I’d like to respond. The implication, I believe, is that it is the responsibility of parents to teach fundamental things like reading, writing and arithmetic. While in a perfect world you would be right, public schools have the responsibility to teach all children, not just the ones who are fortunate enough to have parents who care about their education. This is far from a perfect world.
What happens, then, to the students who do not have the foundation that was supposed to be laid by the family unit? How do we approach the responsibilities you have laid out, all of which are important?
As for class size: Research on this topic is somewhat lacking, though significant class size reduction (let’s say 30 percent or higher) has shown to lead to modest to significantly greater student achievement. However, investing in class size reduction is among the least cost-effective ways to increase student achievement, since the cost of lowering class size is astronomical; the reverse is true for increasing class size. For example, the Brookings Institute estimated that increasing the pupil/teacher ratio by one student would save at least $12 billion per year in teacher salary costs.
As for funding: Too often I think underfunding gets the blame for public schools that don’t meet the mark. In reality, Americans invest significantly more money in eduction that nearly every other country in the world — between $2-3,000 per student more than the average, in fact. I think people are starting to realize that more funding is an easy answer, but it’s not always the right answer (or the only answer). I think that’s why many public school districts are seeking and finding creative new ways of increasing student achievement.
Thank you for your response. While I believe it is always the responsibility of parents to ensure their child is proficient in subjects and citizenry, the purpose of my comment was to say that public schools in the U.S. are tasked with much more than simply instruction of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
As for research on class size, I will admit to be behind on the subject matter. However, the studies I have read have focused nearly all of their attention and metrics on academic performance and not on student development of social skills or preparation of students to be productive citizens.
As someone who has focused many years of study on online learning, I am familiar with cost savings techniques in the delivery of content. There are numerous ways to reduce the cost of instruction. What I am afraid class size will not replace is the need for student role models, instruction in cooperative learning environments, and preparation to be successful. These are skills which require immediate feedback.
As a former teacher of mine used to say, “Some people say that youth should not have jobs. They are wrong. You all have jobs. Your job is to be a professional student and an apprentice citizen so that when you leave here, you are prepared to enter the workforce and to participate in society.”
Man I wish you adults would start including students in these decisions and all…(Maybe not THIS one, seeing how soon it was)