Stratford Parent: Move Winter Break or Shorten It

Arguing that Stratford students have already missed too much school this year, a Stratford parent is appealing to school officials to either move winter break to this week or shorten the scheduled break next week.

Sonya Huber, who has a third-grader in the Stratford public schools system, has created an online petition with the following description:

I would like to ask the Stratford Board of Education to be proactive and move winter break to this week or shorten next week's break. The kids have already missed so much school this year after all the weather-related events of the past year. It is a safe bet given the impact of this storm that the school buildings will have some serious impact, since each hurricane in the past 2 years closed schools in Stratford for a week solid. Meanwhile, winter break is scheduled for next week, which would in effect give students a solid two weeks out of school -- a waste of educational time and a huge impact of lost time for working families, many of whom are not being paid for this time off. Make the announcement early rather than day by day so people can make plans.

Stratford public school students are off today and Tuesday as the town continues its round-the-clock cleanup effort from the historic blizzard that hit the Northeast over the weekend.

Hurricane Sandy last October knocked out power to thousands of residents and caused schools to close for a week.

"I have heard that the Milford school system has already shortened its break by three days, and Stratford school system should make a similar early announcement," Huber wrote in an email to Stratford Patch.

School officials could not be reached for comment late Sunday.

Should winter break be moved to this week, or be shortened next week? Let us know what you think in the comments below.