Schools to pay for absences
The minister yesterday reversed Friday’s decision that all schools should stay closed until Thursday.
Most schools are expected to open in regions around the east coast, where higher temperatures have continued a thaw that began on Sunday.
However, rural schools may be forced to remain closed, particularly in the Munster region, where roads served by school buses were in a hazardous condition up to last night.
The Joint Managerial Body said it has heard from some schools whose teachers had travelled to other parts of the country.
“Many are in areas they can not travel back from in time and those schools may have to use up their substitution allocation to cover their absence if they reopen before Thursday,” said JMB general secretary Ferdia Kelly.
“We will be assessing the extent of this in the coming weeks and if there is a pattern that schools have been hit hard, we will make a case to the Department of Education for funds to cover the cost of additional substitution hours,” he said.
But Mr O’Keeffe insisted yesterday schools have a substitution budget – even though it was his order last Friday that may have prompted teachers to travel away.
“That’s a local issue and I’m not going to micro-manage various difficulties that might arise within the schools themselves. They’ve all been given a certain amount of money for substitution and supervision and it’s a question for them as to how they manage that money,” he said.
The decision may also cause headaches for staff and parents of students at boarding schools, which had asked families to collect students given the expectation of being closed until Thursday.
School boards yesterday assessed heating and water systems, footpaths and roads, and the likelihood of school buses running before notifying parents if they would reopen today, tomorrow or Thursday.
Bus Éireann said decisions on school transport would be made on a local basis.
The minister said he does not want to interfere with mid-term or Easter breaks already notified to parents, but he expects a partnership approach with parents and teachers on how to make up for any lost teaching time.
The Catholic Primary School Managers Association and the National Parents Council-Post Primary welcomed the decision to allow school boards decide on reopening.
