When it comes to the Red for Ed rally next week, Greenfield-Central officials maintain they are staying neutral on the issue of the rally.

However, teachers will still be able to take part in the rally, should they opt to, according to officials.
Superintendent Dr. Harold Olin told Giant FM that while he understands the issues, the rally falls on a school day.

“I recognize that our teachers want to promote some issues that need to be addressed by the legislators. Their concerns are much larger than compensation. The overuse of standardized testing and accountability systems that align with socio-economic status are two of the other pressing issues they want lawmakers to think about differently,” Olin told Giant FM.

With that said, the rally does fall on a normal school day, according to Olin.

“Regretfully, the rally is scheduled for a regular school day. That day was recognized as a school day by our school board more than a year-and-a-half ago. It is one of the 183 contract days in which teachers have been asked to report to school,” he said.

However, there is a compromise for the district.

“That being said, I recognize that teachers have a right to take personal days if that is something they want to do,” Olin said.

And as a result, the district will turn Nov. 19 into an E-Learning Day, making the most of what Olin calls an “awkward situation.”

“For the teachers who choose to come to work on that day, we will have a variety of professional development opportunities for them during half of the day. The other half of the day will be used for office hours,” Olin said.

Olin told Giant FM, 109 teachers out of 290 in the district had already asked for the day off.