So Carnival Warrants Closing School Now?!

So Carnival Warrants Closing School Now?!

As a native and longtime resident of the U..S.V.I I was shocked to find out that there wouldn’t be any public school for the entire last week of this year’s Carnival events. 

I will assume that this is at least a part of why school teachers are rallying against the government. As a student, some ten years ago, when I attended public school students were given a vacation period similar to that of adult government employees’; attend school regularly and on Food Fair (usually a Wednesday) schools would end early (half day) and the rest of the week was Carnival vacation for students participating in Carnival activities or those who choose not to partake at all. 

            With this schedule everyone was allotted time to enjoy the festivities while most business offices made accommodations for their clients for the short vacation period. No parent needed to take time off to stay home with their child, or find/pay a babysitter (which can be hard during the festivities), nor did employers become short staffed due to unforeseen circumstances (a bunch of parents with no help!). No parent would be in danger of/ or losing their jobs and maybe, just maybe, a lot of public school teachers wouldn’t be upset for having to give up two weeks or more of their vacation time.

            While I don’t want to be misunderstood, this is not me criticizing the government for their decision for they are the policy makers and are qualified to do so, but why make such a change/ shift with such a problem (as teachers protesting extra days), when this could’ve easily been an opportunity to elevate at least some of the pressure and tension of the situation by subtracting a few more days?

            Furthermore, I also wonder if any of the public school teachers have any say on the matter as it pertains to the Carnival season or if it was sanctioned by requests from faculty and staff members of our public educational institutions. I mean, since it is them who are being done ‘injustice’. 

This is the opinion of Ms. Child Advocate and doesn't reflect the views of the preschool or other community activities she engages in or works for. Any questions or comments are welcomed and appreciated and can be sent to usvi.childhood.learning@gmail.com or can be left on our blog website, http://usviearlychildhoodlearning.blogspot.com/.