The Associated Parent Clubs of Piedmont (APCP) will fund two furlough days in the 2013-2014 school year, reducing five of the planned furlough days to three.
PHS Parent Club President Dane Copeland said that the APCP, made up of six Parent Clubs throughout the school district, made the decision to fund the days after meetings with the district administration.
“We basically just asked what we could do to help and it was to buy back the furlough days,” Copeland said.
Copeland said that it will cost $90,000 to fund each furlough day, totaling $180,000 in order to buy back two days. Assistant Superintendent Micheal Brady said that of the two bought back furlough days, one will be a student day and the other will be a staff development day.
“[Funding the furlough days] touches every employee and every student,” Copeland said.
Brady said that in order to buy back the furlough days, the APCP had to approve the funds to invest into the two days. Copeland said that the money used to fund the days was raised through the annual Giving Campaign, a fundraiser that asks parents to donate money in order to increase the district’s budget.
“The [APCP] is very supportive of the school,” Principal Richard Kitchens said.
Kitchens said that having teachers paid to come in to work with students is a top priority. Kitchens said that a staff development day will allow teachers to improve their curriculum, while the student day will increase the amount of time students have to learn.
“[Students] are going to be receiving instruction that they would not have received otherwise,” Kitchens said.
Math teacher Diana Miller said that funding the furlough days will help both students and faculty on campus. She said that furlough days force teachers to consolidate larger amounts of information into one lesson by limiting the number of school days in the year.
“It does not allow thinking time for student to process the information,” Miller said.
Miller said she is thankful that the APCP is buying back the furlough days because it will allow teachers to have more of the time that they need to teach the curriculum.
“By decreasing the number of furlough days, students will have more time to learn the material and will be better prepared for their finals,” Miller said.
