Installation schools run by the Defense Department's Education Activity (DoDEA) will shutter over furlough days rather than combining classrooms or implementing other staffing rotations that would keep schools open through the furlough, Pentagon officials told SpouseBuzz.com this week.
"To ensure students' safety and to maintain an acceptable level of quality and compliance, schools will be closed on furlough days," Cynthia Smith, a DoD spokeswoman, said in a statement. "DoDEA is not doubling up on classrooms, and we will insure a quality education for all of our students."
DoD civilian furloughs will not go into affect until mid-June at the earliest, the Pentagon announced late last month.
But officials were unable to tell us exactly how that furlough schedule will impact most DoDEA teachers who do not work over summer break anyway. Summer breaks run from early June to mid-August in most locations.
"As DoDEA closely reviews its budget and considers furlough options and how to best implement cost savings measures, the priority remains focused on mitigating the impact of sequestration on our students," Smith said in the statement.
While DoDEA fails to release their plan, rumors on how the furloughs will impact the 94,000 students at 194 schools worldwide have run rampant, including a rumor that high schoolers will have to complete a fifth year of school to make up for time lost. Officials also recently highlighted the 2013-2014 academic calendar on their Facebook page without accounting for furlough days.
But Smith said that students will complete all of their academic requirements for the coming school year regardless of furloughs.
"Students will complete an accredited year for 13- 14, and summer school will remain intact," she said. "DoDEA understands the anxiety budgetary uncertainties and furlough possibilities bring to its school communities."
