BRATTLEBORO-The recent eclipse that Vermonters were able to experience was beyond breathtaking.
My husband and I enjoyed the 2017 eclipse together with friends. This year, we were looking forward to enjoying totality or getting as close to it as possible and sharing it with our daughter, who was born in 2019.
We made it up to St. Johnsbury and waited in anticipation. The darkness, the silence, and the temperature drop during totality - followed by the cheers and applause - was simply amazing and memorable. My daughter and I talked about it for days afterward.
The only thing missing from this experience this time was my husband, who was stuck at school for the entire day, until 4 p.m.
Students were given a half day due to "safety concerns," but staff were required to stay until 4, per their contract. No teacher workshops were planned. It was the first day of the quarter so there was not even any homework to grade.
Less than a month ago, my husband and his colleagues worked a full day and then stayed until 7 p.m. for parent-teacher conferences.
The eclipse was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, undoubtedly an educational experience to share with students. I don't understand why superintendent Mark Speno felt the need to keep the staff at work, especially if there was "a safety concern" serious enough to release students early.
Amy Moore
Brattleboro
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at [email protected].