Minute details

After reading your article about White Oak’s Wednesday schedule, I was disappointed that all of the facts were not disclosed. While it is true that the Wednesday schedule was changed to accommodate federal regulation, it is not true that White Oak is 510 minutes over the minimum for primary grades.

The truth is that the new schedule—in combination with the two emergency fire days that were called last fall—puts the school under the state minimum. The district received a waiver from the state for the fire days; however, that just makes it legal for them to be under the minimum.

It is unbelievable to me that White Oak is so close to the minimum to begin with. I do not understand how this school and district are happy to strive for the minimum. I honestly believed that White Oak was an exceptional school and that it would be happy with nothing less than excellence.

I know that there is room in the daily schedule and the teachers contracted to add more minutes. Others districts in the area (Oak Park, for example) have many more minutes than ours. I would hope that the school and district would take a hard look at the options available to get the most minutes they can for our kids, not the minimum.

It think it is very important that the parents know all the facts, especially when there is talk of yet another bond measure coming to vote. Siobhan Horton Westlake Village