Articles

Mark Alexander

If teachers with children are going through divorce, their occupation raises some aspects which should be considered when drafting the parenting plan’s residential schedule (what used to be called custody and visitation.)

1. Hours: Typical school hours start early and may end before 5 PM.

2. Summer: The large block of time off for many teachers in the summer provides a prime opportunity to spend extended time with the children. In Washington, the parenting plan has a separate section for the Summer Schedule, which is aimed at the normal day-to-day schedule. However, you may want to specify that most of the children’s Vacation Schedule (a separate section) with the teacher-parent shall occur in blocks of time during the summer, especially since it affords opportunities for lengthy travel.

3. Holidays: The standard parenting plan form only specifies certain holidays. Depending on the school calendar and the parents’ religious beliefs, more (or less) may be specified, including Teacher Learning Improvement Days, Professional/Conference Days, or Easter.

Jewish families may wish to address their holidays, including language such as:

“Jewish holidays shall start from two hours prior to sundown and end two hours after the sundown at the end of the holiday. “Passover Eve” means the entire calendar day (midnight to midnight) which includes the first evening of Passover. “The first day of Passover” means the entire calendar day (midnight to midnight) following “Passover Eve”. “Yom Kippur” is a single period of 28 hours. “Rosh Hashanah” means the 28-hour period beginning 2 hours before sunset on the day Rosh Hashanah begins. “Sukkot” means the first two full days of the Sukkot seven-day holiday, beginning two hours before sundown before the first full day of Sukkot.”