We Interrupt This Program

 An accounting error made it possible for students and staff of Oakland schools to have a four day weekend. Somewhere within the brain trust that controls where and how things are arranged within the district, the little detail of 2024 being a leap year escaped the calendar makers. Each school year is carefully plotted to bring our collective educational focus to bear on one hundred eighty instructional days. Somebody downtown skipped right past February 29 and Bingo, one hundred eighty-one. So it was decided that the only rational thing to do was to tack an extra vacation day onto a pre-existing day so the problem would just disappear. 

But somehow that information didn't trickle down to everyone. The Friday after Valentines Day and before Presidents Day became a bonus day of rest for those of us who wake up early and stay late. Except the announcement of this treat was somewhat occluded. I was fortunate enough to be chatting with my principal about plans we might be making for the upcoming three day weekend when she let slip that it was actually four, and suddenly I was awash with questions and doubt. How could this be? Since when does the school district just give us all something without asking for something in return? Like the raise we all got a couple years back and then found out we were all going to be required to stick around on Wednesdays to do extra tutoring with our students. Not an unreasonable ask, but all part of the give and take of being a public servant. In one particular instance, our uber-dedicated second grade teacher who is preparing to go on maternity leave was shocked to find out that she had one less day to prepare her students for her absence. This constitutes chaos in her universe. 

And the parents of our young charges were similarly impacted. "What are we supposed to do with our kids for that extra day?" None of them actually vocalized this concern, but it was apparent in their mild antipathy as they picked up their progeny on Thursday afternoon. Nobody asked them how they felt. Not that the kids would have insisted on sticking around for that extra day in February. 

But no one asked me. Would I just as soon have pushed on through to the end of May, and then be rewarded with one less day at the end? I think that could have been arranged, if some sort of survey was made among the staff. Since that didn't happen, I found myself by Monday finally relaxing into the vacation rhythm. I woke up at my usual time. I fed the cat. I looked at the headlines. Then I did something I never do: I went back to bed. I slept for an additional two hours. 

Even on my day off, I'm still learning.