There will be no school in New Britain on Monday, Feb. 13 after the union and superintendent failed to reach an agreement on the observance of Lincoln’s birthday, according to the superintendent’s office, and a day will be added on to the end of the school year.
For several years, the Consolidated School District of New Britain has observed Lincoln’s Birthday to coincide with the long Presidents’ Day Weekend, but the union recently indicated that no Memorandum of Understanding for this year was signed and they were electing to celebrate Lincoln’s Birthday as an official holiday, according to the superintendent’s office.
Lincoln’s Birthday falls on a Sunday, Feb. 12, so the contract for Local 1186 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 4 – AFL-CIO has the official observance is Monday, Feb. 13.
This is a change from the calendar the school board voted on last year, which celebrated Presidents’ Day on Monday, Feb. 20 and Lincoln’s Birthday on Tuesday, Feb. 21, according to the superintendent.
“Unfortunately, neither side brought this to the table during negotiations, yet we were both aware of the issue through requests from administration and a signed Memorandum of Understanding from the union for the last several years,” Supt. Nancy Sarra said in a statement. “They have always agreed to adjust Lincoln’s Birthday to meet the calendar needs of the district.”
The current school calendar scheduled Feb. 13 as a full school day, but the Board of Education has now modified the calendar to have Feb. 13 as a day off for students, teachers and Local 1186 employees.
All other staff will be expected to report to work as they were normally scheduled, according to the superintendent’s office.
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Officials from the superintendent’s office said the cost to open school and pay the Local 1186 employees double-time on Feb. 13 would be just under $70,000 in personnel costs.
“It is an extremely unfortunate situation that the leadership of Local 1186 could not come to an agreement with us in regards to Lincoln’s Birthday,” Sarra said in a statement. “This has not been a problem in the year’s past but it is now an issue this year. It is not prudent to spend taxpayer dollars in this way. Due to this, we have decided to make this change in the school calendar. We understand that this may be a hardship for some of our working families but also understand our commitment to our residents to be fiscally responsible. Spending $70,000 in this way is just not fiscally responsible.”
“This is not a decision the Board of Education took lightly,” Nicholas Mercier, the Board of Education president, said in a statement. “We understand the hardships that this may cause with families now needing to find childcare. It is unfortunate that Local 1186 could not come to an agreement with Superintendent Sarra. I am hopeful that we will resolve this issue with Local 1186 before the next school year.”
Staff and students will still be off on Feb. 20 and 21, but all Local 1186 employees will be required to report to work or take a vacation day on Feb. 21 and the canceled day of school on Feb. 13 has been added to the end of the school year.
