Proposed APS Calendar Policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:We would jump for joy if APS did more of a spring, fall, winter and then summer break with just federal holidays off. The amount of other holidays they are off is so disruptive. And, we are a family that technically celebrates one of the "other" religious holidays. We use to just pull our kiddos out if we wanted to, otherwise, they stayed in school.

I hope you send in a comment. Have heard from other parents that all of these days off are equally disruptive for their children and they really just want to have excused absences and no tests/due date and make sure those expectations are enforced.

\

The amount of days off and holidays outpaces any other working profession. No working parent can reasonably match the days that require care.

Exactly - there are more days off during the school year than I get in holidays and paid time off (where sick leave and vacation time are combined). Even if I used up ALL of my annual leave, I STILL wouldn't have enough to cover all of the days off that students have during the school year, let alone summer break. Also hope that no one gets sick because that means I would have even less leave available for school year childcare during scheduled closings. And I'm lucky -- I actually GET paid leave.

So you pay for alternate child care. There are always camps for all these days off. If you don't make enough money to pay for these things, time to re-evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of both parents working and the rest of your budget.

This statement really comes from a lot of privilege. Such a typical Arlington response. Oof!

Please. Like the people responding to this thread and complaining about all the days off aren't privileged themselves. It is a dialogue among privileged people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would jump for joy if APS did more of a spring, fall, winter and then summer break with just federal holidays off. The amount of other holidays they are off is so disruptive. And, we are a family that technically celebrates one of the "other" religious holidays. We use to just pull our kiddos out if we wanted to, otherwise, they stayed in school.

I hope you send in a comment. Have heard from other parents that all of these days off are equally disruptive for their children and they really just want to have excused absences and no tests/due date and make sure those expectations are enforced.

\

The amount of days off and holidays outpaces any other working profession. No working parent can reasonably match the days that require care.

Exactly - there are more days off during the school year than I get in holidays and paid time off (where sick leave and vacation time are combined). Even if I used up ALL of my annual leave, I STILL wouldn't have enough to cover all of the days off that students have during the school year, let alone summer break. Also hope that no one gets sick because that means I would have even less leave available for school year childcare during scheduled closings. And I'm lucky -- I actually GET paid leave.

So you pay for alternate child care. There are always camps for all these days off. If you don't make enough money to pay for these things, time to re-evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of both parents working and the rest of your budget.

Cool story. Why is ok to tell APS parents “figure it out or quit your job”, but APS can’t say the same to its own employees?

Because adequate staffing is an operational need for the school system. YOUR childcare issues are YOUR problem.

If the FCPS calendar causes childcare issues for APS teacher who live there, that is THEIR problem. Literally. Because they can actually vote in FCPS elections and I can’t. And whatever childcare issues the calendar imposed on them are being shared by all of the other working families of FFX county. So rather than acting superior like your problems are special and other people with the EXACT SAME problem are not, you could show some solidarity and work to make a better schedule for everyone.

But no. Instead you’re making a special claim that everyone else has to live with FCPS’ bad decision making, rather than putting the onus on people who could actually do something about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would jump for joy if APS did more of a spring, fall, winter and then summer break with just federal holidays off. The amount of other holidays they are off is so disruptive. And, we are a family that technically celebrates one of the "other" religious holidays. We use to just pull our kiddos out if we wanted to, otherwise, they stayed in school.

I hope you send in a comment. Have heard from other parents that all of these days off are equally disruptive for their children and they really just want to have excused absences and no tests/due date and make sure those expectations are enforced.

\

The amount of days off and holidays outpaces any other working profession. No working parent can reasonably match the days that require care.

Exactly - there are more days off during the school year than I get in holidays and paid time off (where sick leave and vacation time are combined). Even if I used up ALL of my annual leave, I STILL wouldn't have enough to cover all of the days off that students have during the school year, let alone summer break. Also hope that no one gets sick because that means I would have even less leave available for school year childcare during scheduled closings. And I'm lucky -- I actually GET paid leave.

So you pay for alternate child care. There are always camps for all these days off. If you don't make enough money to pay for these things, time to re-evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of both parents working and the rest of your budget.

And what about single-parent households?

Have children with a person who can offer financial support once they've procreated.

This type of stuff is not the school district's responsibility. They are a public good to educate your children and that's it. Everything in life is not for someone else to solve for you.

Guess you are not for equity.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter what they do, it will not be fair for everyone. Will be waiting patiently until we are told what the final decision will be.....

[Anonymous]

When will a final call be made about the schedule?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When will a final call be made about the schedule?

The board plans to vote on it in the middle of summer when no one is paying attention.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Here are facts.

APS does not care what any of us think. It's all about what the teachers want and the teachers want to match FCPS. I had a School Board Member tell me this to my face when they moved to pre-Labor Day start.

The added religious holidays will only go away if FCPS gets rid of them.

We are basically an FCPS outpost in many ways. Same reason we have to close or delay when there is not a real weather issue in Arlington. Gotta follow FCPS.

I think this is right and I wish they would just be more transparent about it. It’s obnoxious to ask for feedback when they aren’t going to listen to any of it.

I agree. But what I find interesting is that this issue largely relates to aligning childcare for APS teachers who live in FC. But when parents express concerns about childcare, the answer is "school isn't daycare". Teachers find it difficult to find childcare for a week in August and maybe a few days during the school year. The rest of us do it for 2 weeks of winter, 1 week of spring, 16 holidays, teacher workdays, 10 weeks of summer... Can't we all just agree that school IS childcare and that making schedules work for as many people as possible should be the goal? I don't understand why we insist in this country to continue to act as though people live under agrarian schedules, with Ma and Pa on the farm having kids helping with the harvest.

But all parents are going to have to find childcare no matter what the calendar is, so why not make it easier for teachers at least and align the calendars for them?

Because I am an Arlington resident who cannot control the decisions FCPS makes. If a teacher who lives in FCPS finds their school calendar burdensome, they can vote, comment at SB meetings, and get involved. I don't get to tell my employer to change their schedule just because it's inconvenient to the school calendar. Teachers who don't live in Arlington shouldn't be able to make the same claim.

I’m an Aps teacher with elementary aged FCPS kids. I don’t tell my employer what to do. I do take days off when I need to get child care or take time off with my kids. Judging by traffic on days when FCPS is closed and Aps is open many many parents do this too.

The issue is there aren’t enough subs to cover.

I think a unified nova school calendar should be implemented around fccs FCPS Aps Alexandria city and pwcs. Then all the parents can complain about the calendar and all the schools can blame the other guy.

Beautiful.

[Anonymous]

This would give us some of the longest school years in the country. Schools that get out in late June do that because they start after Labor Day. Now they want to start two weeks before and still have us out in late June. They know the parents don’t want this, as every year when they make a calendar, the feedback is overwhelmingly against an early start. Too many holidays, and a two week winter break should not be a routine occurrence.

I’m so glad my kid is in HS, so that if they do implement this by hiding it from the families, I only have to do this garbage for a year or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Starting early makes sense. Ending late doesn’t. Very little learning happens in June, even in elementary schools. Many teachers stop teaching after SOLs and who can blame them. Students are burnt out. Less interruptions during the school year are better and we can definitely find a way to end a week early in June. Also holidays need to be planned better. Schedule teacher work days on these religious holidays. Have early release days scheduled right before one of the scheduled holidays. If you can’t schedule a teachers work day on a scheduled holiday then have the teacher’s work day the day before or day after. Instead of a wishy washy commitment to maximizing weeks where students go to school five days a week, let’s set that commitment in stone. And also let’s commit to ending a week early in June.

Not going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are facts.

APS does not care what any of us think. It's all about what the teachers want and the teachers want to match FCPS. I had a School Board Member tell me this to my face when they moved to pre-Labor Day start.

The added religious holidays will only go away if FCPS gets rid of them.

We are basically an FCPS outpost in many ways. Same reason we have to close or delay when there is not a real weather issue in Arlington. Gotta follow FCPS.

I think this is right and I wish they would just be more transparent about it. It’s obnoxious to ask for feedback when they aren’t going to listen to any of it.

I agree. But what I find interesting is that this issue largely relates to aligning childcare for APS teachers who live in FC. But when parents express concerns about childcare, the answer is "school isn't daycare". Teachers find it difficult to find childcare for a week in August and maybe a few days during the school year. The rest of us do it for 2 weeks of winter, 1 week of spring, 16 holidays, teacher workdays, 10 weeks of summer... Can't we all just agree that school IS childcare and that making schedules work for as many people as possible should be the goal? I don't understand why we insist in this country to continue to act as though people live under agrarian schedules, with Ma and Pa on the farm having kids helping with the harvest.

It’s very simple. You need teachers more than teachers need your individual kid.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:With a kid taking AP tests next week competing for 5s with kids who had 2-3 more weeks on instruction, I understand the benefit of starting earlier. HOWEVER, we need to get out earlier, too. It’s infuriating that they keep shrinking summer.

AP students represent a fraction of the student population, so I don’t think it makes sense to dictate the schedule according to their needs.

Plus, our start date moves up, but then they throw in an extra week of Christmas break and a bunch of teacher workdays, so by the time May rolls around they haven’t actually gotten any more instruction.

There’s not a fixed number of 5s to be awarded, so your kid isn’t competing.

And there’s nothing stopping your kid from picking up a prep book two (or even three!) weeks before school starts.

Tell me how starting 2 weeks earlier hurts your kid? or any kid?

I am just hearing a lot of whining about I don't waaaaant to start 2 weeks earlier!

But no real reasons not to.

Because kids should have a proper summer break. Going back in mid-August is insane.

Going back mid august is ok if they end earlier in June. If I had to choose, I would rather kids start early than end late. Why? Very little learning happens in June anyways so it makes more sense to end early than to start late. Now if it were up to me, we would start late and end early or have a longer spring break. I prefer breaks that are longer than random days off here and there. Breaks are easier to plan for.

Yes, if we start earlier we should end earlier. They keep shrinking summer break and then are shocked that no one wants to teach summer school.

Also, random days off... like why does grade prep have to happen on a Tuesday? Could you move that to Monday or Friday? It's not like you're turning report cards around THAT fast.

That grade prep day on a Tuesday is election day and schools are polling locations. They don't just have them on random Tuesdays for kicks.

Ok, if that needs to be an off day, lets go to school on Veteran's Day instead of having both off that week. Also, if the religious holidays need to be observed, we can go to school on Presidents Day and MLK day as well.

They aren’t going to school on federal holidays. Not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would jump for joy if APS did more of a spring, fall, winter and then summer break with just federal holidays off. The amount of other holidays they are off is so disruptive. And, we are a family that technically celebrates one of the "other" religious holidays. We use to just pull our kiddos out if we wanted to, otherwise, they stayed in school.

I hope you send in a comment. Have heard from other parents that all of these days off are equally disruptive for their children and they really just want to have excused absences and no tests/due date and make sure those expectations are enforced.

\

The amount of days off and holidays outpaces any other working profession. No working parent can reasonably match the days that require care.

Exactly - there are more days off during the school year than I get in holidays and paid time off (where sick leave and vacation time are combined). Even if I used up ALL of my annual leave, I STILL wouldn't have enough to cover all of the days off that students have during the school year, let alone summer break. Also hope that no one gets sick because that means I would have even less leave available for school year childcare during scheduled closings. And I'm lucky -- I actually GET paid leave.

So you pay for alternate child care. There are always camps for all these days off. If you don't make enough money to pay for these things, time to re-evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of both parents working and the rest of your budget.

Cool story. Why is ok to tell APS parents “figure it out or quit your job”, but APS can’t say the same to its own employees?

Because adequate staffing is an operational need for the school system. YOUR childcare issues are YOUR problem.

Absolutely astonishing that PP needed this explained to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would jump for joy if APS did more of a spring, fall, winter and then summer break with just federal holidays off. The amount of other holidays they are off is so disruptive. And, we are a family that technically celebrates one of the "other" religious holidays. We use to just pull our kiddos out if we wanted to, otherwise, they stayed in school.

I hope you send in a comment. Have heard from other parents that all of these days off are equally disruptive for their children and they really just want to have excused absences and no tests/due date and make sure those expectations are enforced.

\

The amount of days off and holidays outpaces any other working profession. No working parent can reasonably match the days that require care.

Exactly - there are more days off during the school year than I get in holidays and paid time off (where sick leave and vacation time are combined). Even if I used up ALL of my annual leave, I STILL wouldn't have enough to cover all of the days off that students have during the school year, let alone summer break. Also hope that no one gets sick because that means I would have even less leave available for school year childcare during scheduled closings. And I'm lucky -- I actually GET paid leave.

So you pay for alternate child care. There are always camps for all these days off. If you don't make enough money to pay for these things, time to re-evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of both parents working and the rest of your budget.

Cool story. Why is ok to tell APS parents “figure it out or quit your job”, but APS can’t say the same to its own employees?

Because adequate staffing is an operational need for the school system. YOUR childcare issues are YOUR problem.

Absolutely astonishing that PP needed this explained to them.

By all means, take this attitude off an anonymous forum and see how far it gets you. The entitlement displayed and the blasé attitude towards parents with the exact same problems will undoubtedly only improve support for the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would give us some of the longest school years in the country. Schools that get out in late June do that because they start after Labor Day. Now they want to start two weeks before and still have us out in late June. They know the parents don’t want this, as every year when they make a calendar, the feedback is overwhelmingly against an early start. Too many holidays, and a two week winter break should not be a routine occurrence.

I’m so glad my kid is in HS, so that if they do implement this by hiding it from the families, I only have to do this garbage for a year or two.

Exactly. Every time they ask, the community overwhelmingly rejects having an even shorter summer. Then, they suggest a shorter summer again the next year. Now they hope to just make a short summer permanent and hope not too many people notice until it’s too late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We would jump for joy if APS did more of a spring, fall, winter and then summer break with just federal holidays off. The amount of other holidays they are off is so disruptive. And, we are a family that technically celebrates one of the "other" religious holidays. We use to just pull our kiddos out if we wanted to, otherwise, they stayed in school.

I hope you send in a comment. Have heard from other parents that all of these days off are equally disruptive for their children and they really just want to have excused absences and no tests/due date and make sure those expectations are enforced.

\

The amount of days off and holidays outpaces any other working profession. No working parent can reasonably match the days that require care.

Exactly - there are more days off during the school year than I get in holidays and paid time off (where sick leave and vacation time are combined). Even if I used up ALL of my annual leave, I STILL wouldn't have enough to cover all of the days off that students have during the school year, let alone summer break. Also hope that no one gets sick because that means I would have even less leave available for school year childcare during scheduled closings. And I'm lucky -- I actually GET paid leave.

So you pay for alternate child care. There are always camps for all these days off. If you don't make enough money to pay for these things, time to re-evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of both parents working and the rest of your budget.

And what about single-parent households?

Have children with a person who can offer financial support once they've procreated.

This type of stuff is not the school district's responsibility. They are a public good to educate your children and that's it. Everything in life is not for someone else to solve for you.

I guess people shouldn't have children with someone who's going to die in an accident or from cancer while the kids are still dependents, too. Or who are going to become disabled and unable to work. And they should know that their spouse will some day in the future abuse them or cheat on them and should stay with them for the childcare/income; or that their spouse will some day just leave them for someone else and leave them stranded. Yes. All single-parent households are single-parent households because that parent didn't procreate with another person who would always offer financial support.