The school year is more than 10 months for staff and 2025-26 is extra long for students-Must be shortened

[Anonymous]

In 2025-26 the student calendar is a full week longer starting on the 3rd Monday of August like 2023 and 2024 but ending on the 3rd Wednesday in June instead of the 2nd Wednesday like this year and next year. The school year is already a little long but that year will be awful unless the school year is shortened a week.
As for staff every recent year they start in the first half of August a week before students (new staff start nearly a week earlier) and still don't end until June 17 or 18! That allows little opportunity to work a summer program and go on a vacation.

The last day for teachers should be the day after students worst case that Friday they should not have to come in a day or two during a new week. As for new school year they should start a week later! As for the 2025-26 student calendar it appears to have the perfect storm of single day holiday closures and should be adjusted to only close on days where 10% or more of students would be out.

[Anonymous]

All of this. The FCPS calendar is bloated beyond belief with days off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of this. The FCPS calendar is bloated beyond belief with days off.

+1. I assume (maybe wrongly) that they could easily chop out many video trainings and team meetings for teaches and get rid of some teacher "work" days (not that the teachers wouldn't work on those days, but that they are doing stuff that isn't helping them much, as forced by the system).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids still need to make up from missing SCHOOL FROM MARCH 13,2020 TO AUGUST 2022

The kids who still need to make things up need it made up via intensive tutoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of this. The FCPS calendar is bloated beyond belief with days off.

+1. I assume (maybe wrongly) that they could easily chop out many video trainings and team meetings for teaches and get rid of some teacher "work" days (not that the teachers wouldn't work on those days, but that they are doing stuff that isn't helping them much, as forced by the system).

I think that it is the professional development days that most of my Teacher friends complain about. The PD is normally not useful and a waste of time. Some of it is mandatory to retain licenses but some of it is admin BS that doesn't really accomplish much. The Work Days are needed for grading and other classroom related tasks.

The calendar is bloated due to the extra long Winter Break and all of the Federal Holidays and all the religious holidays. We got lucky this year and a bunch of religius days fell on the weekend so they didn't need to have the day off of school. Next year a bunch of those days are on school days so we will have a lot more short weeks.

[Anonymous]

FCPS still has 11 snow days built in. Kind of ridiculous. Cut a week off there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS still has 11 snow days built in. Kind of ridiculous. Cut a week off there.

They are counting the time that students are allowed in the building until the first bell rings, lunch, recess, and a bunch of other non-instructional time as part of their hours requirement to cover snow days. They have not added extra days to the calendar.

[Anonymous]

We do have extra snow days built in and the 2025-2026 calendar is set and not going to change. OP is too late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS still has 11 snow days built in. Kind of ridiculous. Cut a week off there.

If they did that we'd be under 180 days. They count "snow days" by the 990 hour requirement but still get (close to at least) 180 days too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS still has 11 snow days built in. Kind of ridiculous. Cut a week off there.

The equivalent in hours, not actual days on the calendar. The calendar has 180 student days.

[Anonymous]

You aren’t going to change this. Here are your options.

1. Private school.
2. Take your kid out whenever you want and call it in as an appointment so it’s excused. Have them make up the work.
3. Same but don’t lie and it will be unexcused. Depending on the school you will have to go to attendance meetings or get threatened about it. They should still make up the work.

[Anonymous]

If you want kids to be in school the one-off religious days need to go. Any day in the middle of the week means that some sizeable portion of families will take the days in between off and make it a 4 or 5 day vacation. Ridiculous.

And the 80% of the PD is royal waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do have extra snow days built in and the 2025-2026 calendar is set and not going to change. OP is too late.

If this was for 2024-25 I'd agree but this is 2 school years from now we can at least change the end to June 10, 2026 mimicking the length of 2023-24 and 2024-25. Still very long for staff though.

[Anonymous]

I prefer the longer school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want kids to be in school the one-off religious days need to go. Any day in the middle of the week means that some sizeable portion of families will take the days in between off and make it a 4 or 5 day vacation. Ridiculous.

And the 80% of the PD is royal waste of time.

Honestly people extend vacations at any opportunity. I have kids missing this week and week after spring break.