http://66.225.205.104/LM20100904.mp3
Kids at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have been back for a week-and-a-half and already they've got three days off this week. Labor Day makes sense. But the kids turn right around and get Thursday and Friday off, too. Teachers are expected to be at school those days doing professional development. They did spend quite a bit of time doing that just before school started less than two weeks ago. So what's the reason for the timing of these extra days off? Thursday and Friday are Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and CMS says when that holiday falls during the school week attendance drops significantly. District spokeswoman Paige Reinhard says it makes sense to schedule a couple teacher workdays then. The district must give teachers a total of fifteen such days for the year. Reinhard says it's not that strange to have teacher work days early-on. It gives them time to regroup now that they've met their classes and discovered areas on which they'll need to focus.