Holiday Schedule Issue

[blondiegirl]

Dear Socrateaser,

My court order states among other things that Winter Recess should be split 50% with each parent.  My children are dismissed on Friday December 22 at 11:50.  I called the school secretary and she said that Friday at 11:50 is the start of the Winter Recess.  
Their father keeps insisting that the Holiday schedule does not go into effect until after his weekend with the children.  He says it starts on Monday.  He is flooding me with faxes and threatening me.  
If the school is stating that the recess starts on 12/22/06 at 11:50 is that the time the holiday schedule should begin?  
Thank you!

[socrateaser]

>Dear Socrateaser,
>
>My court order states among other things that Winter Recess
>should be split 50% with each parent.  My children are
>dismissed on Friday December 22 at 11:50.  I called the school
>secretary and she said that Friday at 11:50 is the start of
>the Winter Recess.  
>Their father keeps insisting that the Holiday schedule does
>not go into effect until after his weekend with the children.
>He says it starts on Monday.  He is flooding me with faxes and
>threatening me.  
>If the school is stating that the recess starts on 12/22/06 at
>11:50 is that the time the holiday schedule should begin?  
>Thank you!

Seems pretty straightforward to me, unless something else in your orders contradicts the winter recess provision. Get something from the school in writing about its schedule, send it to the other parent, and if that parent wants to fight about it, invite him to file a motion to clarify with the court.

Frankly, if you can't come to an amicable resolution, the best thing to do is ask the judge to explain it. It doesn't really have to be a battle -- you just want an interpretation that both of you understand to mean the same thing.

[Sunshine1]

ONLY My 2 cents, obviously not legal advice, but we just had this clarification and had the same problem.

December 22nd is a school day in which they get out early...like an early release as if they would when they have conferences that night (if your school does that) not a holiday, just getting out early.

Friday should be treated like a regular visitation day (ie..Friday exchange to Sunday) and the next day that they would have school and don't is technically classified as the winter recess...because there is no school because the school is closed for the holiday break.

So, Monday would be the start of the winter recess.

Again only my opinion and we just went through this same scenario.

Thanks!

[wysiwyg]

My 2 cents as well, and sorry if I am butting - please feel free to delete if necessary.

I work with 7 school corp.  The schedules vary, ie, for the 22nd, one schedule says last day before winter break, another says start of winter break, a third states that the 23rd is the start of winter break another says that winter break is the 25th to the 5th, obviously schools normally are not in session for the weekend so the intenet and wording varies from district to district.  Additionally on the school that lists the holiday as over on the 5th, the weekend schooling thing applies there as well. I also realize that all court orders are written differently however ours addresses this in that  Winter break is defined as the evening the child gets out of school for the holiday.  The intent is that the winter break is those days the child is NOT in school meaning weekends and school days listed.  

Again Soc, if I have overstepped, please delte my post and accept my apologies.

[DecentDad]

We had similar arguments over what "half of spring break" meant.

Rather than fight about it every year, I ended up getting court orders for "12pm on the Wednesday closest to the middle of the break" as the exchange point.

It's impossible to argue about an order that clear.

And, mind you, we also have the standard clause indicating order of custodial time:  special days (e.g., child's birthday), holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving), vacation time, then normal custodial time.

So, if something displaces the normal custodial time, that's just the way it works out; and it'll even out over time.

[socrateaser]

The original poster is stating in the facts that "winter recess" is the term used in the court order and that the school is using the exact same term to describe when school is out. This is unambiguous, and there's no reason to interpret it any other way.

Now, if the original poster is merely interpreting what the school is saying and the school is not using the same terminology, then maybe there's some room to argue. Which is WHY I suggested getting something in WRITING from the school.

If both the court order and the school use the identical term "winter recess" in writing, then there is absolutely nothing more to consider.

Otherwise, all bets are off and we need to have the judge interpret the facts.