DCPS asks parents to "create your own calendar proposal" for SY 26-29

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well this new way is a great non example of equity that DCPS goes on and on about. Don’t have a computer? Too bad. Can’t figure out excel? Too bad. Who outside highly educated people are going to mess with this? Definitely not the engagement DCPS claimed to care so much about.

This is not the only way to provide feedback on the calendar. It is simply a new way to do it, in addition to the way it's always been done, which is that they will put out a proposed calendar and there will be a period for comments/feedback before they finalize. You can still provide comments/feedback during the review period.

But now ALSO if you are so convinced you can put together a calendar that works, go ahead and do it. The number of people who do this will be quite small, not for equity reasons, but because the vast majority of people don't actually want to deal with the logistical nightmare that is trying to compose a school year calendar. I also bet that 100% of the calendars that do get submitted will be impossible to implement because they will lack adequate in-service days, PD days, raise major objections from the teachers union, or otherwise have fundamental issues making them unworkable. Even if some submitted schedules meet all those requirements, the people who complain about schedules will also complain about those schedules (there are simply divisions within the district on certain aspects of scheduling, especially the timing, duration, and frequency of breaks).

There is no equity issue here. The people claiming there is one are like Twitter bots and will scream equity about literally everything.

OP here:
Download the Excel template. It forces you to fill it out in such a way that meets requirements for service days (min 180, max 185), requisite PD and record days, PTC days, etc. It's pretty cool. But no way in hell does this meet any of DCPS's equity goals.

I'll post up my completed calendar if anyone else wants to download and submit it to DCPS.

My revised big rock issues:
-Return of February break
-Moving up spring break by a week or two
-Last day of school later in the week (either Thursday or Friday)

Good for you, but I personally hate February break (we cannot afford to take two week long breaks every winter/spring, and it hits too soon after the December break anyway). I like having spring break later as it makes it possible for us to do a warm weather activity without flying somewhere, and won't moving the last day of school to a Thursday/Friday mean that if we have make-up days, we're pushed into the next week anyway (I know not everyone attends makeup days but some of us do).

I expect your calendar will suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well this new way is a great non example of equity that DCPS goes on and on about. Don’t have a computer? Too bad. Can’t figure out excel? Too bad. Who outside highly educated people are going to mess with this? Definitely not the engagement DCPS claimed to care so much about.

This is not the only way to provide feedback on the calendar. It is simply a new way to do it, in addition to the way it's always been done, which is that they will put out a proposed calendar and there will be a period for comments/feedback before they finalize. You can still provide comments/feedback during the review period.

But now ALSO if you are so convinced you can put together a calendar that works, go ahead and do it. The number of people who do this will be quite small, not for equity reasons, but because the vast majority of people don't actually want to deal with the logistical nightmare that is trying to compose a school year calendar. I also bet that 100% of the calendars that do get submitted will be impossible to implement because they will lack adequate in-service days, PD days, raise major objections from the teachers union, or otherwise have fundamental issues making them unworkable. Even if some submitted schedules meet all those requirements, the people who complain about schedules will also complain about those schedules (there are simply divisions within the district on certain aspects of scheduling, especially the timing, duration, and frequency of breaks).

There is no equity issue here. The people claiming there is one are like Twitter bots and will scream equity about literally everything.

OP here:
Download the Excel template. It forces you to fill it out in such a way that meets requirements for service days (min 180, max 185), requisite PD and record days, PTC days, etc. It's pretty cool. But no way in hell does this meet any of DCPS's equity goals.

I'll post up my completed calendar if anyone else wants to download and submit it to DCPS.

My revised big rock issues:
-Return of February break
-Moving up spring break by a week or two
-Last day of school later in the week (either Thursday or Friday)

Good for you, but I personally hate February break (we cannot afford to take two week long breaks every winter/spring, and it hits too soon after the December break anyway). I like having spring break later as it makes it possible for us to do a warm weather activity without flying somewhere, and won't moving the last day of school to a Thursday/Friday mean that if we have make-up days, we're pushed into the next week anyway (I know not everyone attends makeup days but some of us do).

I expect your calendar will suck.

Yup. And PP’s cluelessness—obviously we’ll all agree, so let’s just make a calendar and all submit it!—shows what DCPS is up against and why this exercise is actually pretty genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well this new way is a great non example of equity that DCPS goes on and on about. Don’t have a computer? Too bad. Can’t figure out excel? Too bad. Who outside highly educated people are going to mess with this? Definitely not the engagement DCPS claimed to care so much about.

This is not the only way to provide feedback on the calendar. It is simply a new way to do it, in addition to the way it's always been done, which is that they will put out a proposed calendar and there will be a period for comments/feedback before they finalize. You can still provide comments/feedback during the review period.

But now ALSO if you are so convinced you can put together a calendar that works, go ahead and do it. The number of people who do this will be quite small, not for equity reasons, but because the vast majority of people don't actually want to deal with the logistical nightmare that is trying to compose a school year calendar. I also bet that 100% of the calendars that do get submitted will be impossible to implement because they will lack adequate in-service days, PD days, raise major objections from the teachers union, or otherwise have fundamental issues making them unworkable. Even if some submitted schedules meet all those requirements, the people who complain about schedules will also complain about those schedules (there are simply divisions within the district on certain aspects of scheduling, especially the timing, duration, and frequency of breaks).

There is no equity issue here. The people claiming there is one are like Twitter bots and will scream equity about literally everything.

OP here:
Download the Excel template. It forces you to fill it out in such a way that meets requirements for service days (min 180, max 185), requisite PD and record days, PTC days, etc. It's pretty cool. But no way in hell does this meet any of DCPS's equity goals.

I'll post up my completed calendar if anyone else wants to download and submit it to DCPS.

My revised big rock issues:
-Return of February break
-Moving up spring break by a week or two
-Last day of school later in the week (either Thursday or Friday)

Good for you, but I personally hate February break (we cannot afford to take two week long breaks every winter/spring, and it hits too soon after the December break anyway). I like having spring break later as it makes it possible for us to do a warm weather activity without flying somewhere, and won't moving the last day of school to a Thursday/Friday mean that if we have make-up days, we're pushed into the next week anyway (I know not everyone attends makeup days but some of us do).

I expect your calendar will suck.

Yup. And PP’s cluelessness—obviously we’ll all agree, so let’s just make a calendar and all submit it!—shows what DCPS is up against and why this exercise is actually pretty genius.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now I get why they are seeking feedback - Labor Day is not until September 7 in 2026. People will go nuts if school doesn't start until Aug 31.

Other option is kids have two full weeks of school before Labor Day. I'm OK with that.

It was that way until Ferebee started as chancellor. They shifted to one week before Labor Day for reasons that were never explained. Which meant school had to go a week later in June, which many people hated. So they got rid of February break, which many people hated. On and on, ad infinitum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should we all rally together to make a DCUM-approved calendar? If a bunch of us submit the same calendar, it will likely have an outsized influence on the results.

Personally? My big rock issues are:
-Bring back February full week holiday
-Last day of school on a Friday
-Move up spring break by a week or two, its so damn late with Emancipation Day.

Next year has lots of random 4 day weekends for no discernable reason other than because they messed with the traditional February holiday week. It's really hard to get any care or coverage for random 4-day weekends. We do much better with just a full week in February - lots of commercial camp/childcare options filled the void.

Traditional? Our kid has been in DCPS for nine academic years now, and there have been more years *without* a February break (five) than years with one (four). February break also is not a thing in a large swath of the country.

[Anonymous]

No, it’s not genius and it does deserve respect. It’s CO wasting resources coming up with this idea and actually getting it posted. Why? To teach whiny people a lesson? That’s a child’s way of thinking. Just come up with a calendar and post it. Be the adults you are supposed to be and either ignore the critics or offer something that might actually yield positive feedback and improvements. Such babies.

[Anonymous]

Way too many PD days in DCPS - minimum of 10. That's the source of the problems with the calendar.

Shave that down to six total PD days (2 of which used to combine with 0.5 record keeping days four times per year) and everyone gets out of school a week earlier in June.

How many PD days do teachers really want? 10 feels like overkill. If I had to do 10 PD days per year at my job I would go nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Way too many PD days in DCPS - minimum of 10. That's the source of the problems with the calendar.

Shave that down to six total PD days (2 of which used to combine with 0.5 record keeping days four times per year) and everyone gets out of school a week earlier in June.

How many PD days do teachers really want? 10 feels like overkill. If I had to do 10 PD days per year at my job I would go nuts.

But, at least this year, there were only five PD days during the time when kids were in school Five other ones took place the week before school began.

PD days used to be much, much worse. There were years when the kids would go to school on a Friday like once between Halloween and the new year. So many three-day weekends and half-days.

[Anonymous]

Let’s have the PD a week before school starts and a week after it ends. PD is ridiculous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s have the PD a week before school starts and a week after it ends. PD is ridiculous

OP here:
You need four 0.5 PD days to combine with four 0.5 record-keeping days. DCPS has strong preference for full days of school, no half-days.

DCPS current does 5 days of PD before school starts. You could shove in the final 3 PD days after the last day of school. I think this might solve the issue for families.

[Anonymous]

OP here:
Working more with the calendar and I can see how having spring break coinciding with Emancipation Day makes sense ONLY if you have the February full week break.

But this year (2024) was sort of the worst of both worlds, imho: 4 day week for Presidents Day interspersed with random 3 and 4 day weekends and then a really late spring break (Emancipation Day was a Tuesday).

You don't need to pull forward spring break if you get that entire week off in February. Also in 2026-2027 calendar, Emancipation Day (April 16) is on a Friday so kids would be done with school on Friday April 11. That's actually a perfectly fine time to do spring break.

I wish DCPS would just vary it year to year based on how the days hash out.

[Anonymous]

I really hate the Emancipation Day holiday. It really messes with the calendar.

It became a holiday in DC in 2005. So not that long ago. It was part of DC going through a flurry of state like activities - naming an official state holiday (so I feel it was more a symbolic thing than a content or mission driven reason to celebrate). I do think it's a great idea for a day to celebrate. But for DC, it messes with tax day and DCPS in unforeseen ways that are really disruptive.

[Anonymous]

In "School Days for Students," it says you need a minimum of 43 days in each term, with a minimum of 180 and a max of 185 for the year. It also says the last day of each term needs to be a record day, and the spreadsheet seems to count record days as part of the "School Days for Students." Is that right?

[Anonymous]

One thing to consider is that some areas of the country have only 170-175 days of schooling per year. I know DCPS families are often looking at relatives in other parts of the country and comparing practices.

My family down in NC start school same week as DCPS, but are on Xmas break from Dec 16-Jan 2, sync up spring break with Easter every year, and they are done with school on June 7. No way in hell is that area going to raise taxes to put kids in school for 180 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In "School Days for Students," it says you need a minimum of 43 days in each term, with a minimum of 180 and a max of 185 for the year. It also says the last day of each term needs to be a record day, and the spreadsheet seems to count record days as part of the "School Days for Students." Is that right?

No, that's not right. The spreadsheet will only count "School Days for Students" if you have a "1" in a green cell for that individual date. If you have columns for 0.5 Records/0.5 PD day, the spreadsheet will not count that toward the aggregated "School Days for Students" in any given term or toward the 180 total.

However, the 0.5 Records day must coincide the with the last day of the Term. So in the white Column H for Term, the last day of Term 1 must be the 0.5 Records Day. Then the next day after that would be the first day of Term 2.

I hope that makes sense. 180 days minimum can only be met by put a "1" in the green column (I).