Ferebee email re adding school days because of snow

[Anonymous]

The number of days DC schools are closed or take off is truly ridiculous. Charters are even worse. Many don't even try to make 180 days of instruction per year.

[Anonymous]

While the records days are required, they used to be half days for students that counted as full days toward the 180 so we got out earlier. Families expressed that half days were harder for childcare. Most teachers hate the PD days and a lot of them take leave, but they are required as part of our contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While the records days are required, they used to be half days for students that counted as full days toward the 180 so we got out earlier. Families expressed that half days were harder for childcare. Most teachers hate the PD days and a lot of them take leave, but they are required as part of our contract.

Move all the PD/Wellness/Records/Whatever-the-weird-reason-you-want-to-take-the-day-off days to either the very beginning or the very end of the school year so they are less disruptive. Make up snow days during the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the records days are required, they used to be half days for students that counted as full days toward the 180 so we got out earlier. Families expressed that half days were harder for childcare. Most teachers hate the PD days and a lot of them take leave, but they are required as part of our contract.

Move all the PD/Wellness/Records/Whatever-the-weird-reason-you-want-to-take-the-day-off days to either the very beginning or the very end of the school year so they are less disruptive. Make up snow days during the year.

Records days are tied to terms and report cards. You can’t just stack them at the end of the year.

[Anonymous]

I think you all just love complaining. Let it go!!! Your kid can miss up to a certain number of school days a year without an excuse anyway, so if you didn't want to send them yesterday or don't want to send them on the extra day at the end, don't. No one will care.

This is just life. Sometimes you have to figure out childcare for younger kids during a day off. Sometimes there's a snow day and they have to add days to the end of the calendar. Whatever. Kids get older and this becomes less of an issue because they don't need childcare. And you can always just take an unexcused absence if you are leaving early for summer vacation or if had a trip planned this weekend -- as long as you don't do that too much, schools don't care that much.

This is the season of life you are in. Yes it's a pain. But it ends and then it doesn't matter. The endless complaining about how they need to fix the schedule by doing XYZ (which is always different from person to person because everyone had different ideas of what makes a schedule perfect) is a waste of time. There is no perfect schedule. Just figure out how to deal with it with your family and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While the records days are required, they used to be half days for students that counted as full days toward the 180 so we got out earlier. Families expressed that half days were harder for childcare. Most teachers hate the PD days and a lot of them take leave, but they are required as part of our contract.

Half days are not full days and should not be counted as such toward the 180. I can't understand why it's acceptable for DCPS to schedule only the MINIMUM amount of days of school, and then people still want to shorten it from there. In my school district, the schedule included more than the MINIMUM amount of instruction days to begin with -- so you only had to "make up" days if you got a lot of snow days. It is school. We should not be doing the minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you all just love complaining. Let it go!!! Your kid can miss up to a certain number of school days a year without an excuse anyway, so if you didn't want to send them yesterday or don't want to send them on the extra day at the end, don't. No one will care.

This is just life. Sometimes you have to figure out childcare for younger kids during a day off. Sometimes there's a snow day and they have to add days to the end of the calendar. Whatever. Kids get older and this becomes less of an issue because they don't need childcare. And you can always just take an unexcused absence if you are leaving early for summer vacation or if had a trip planned this weekend -- as long as you don't do that too much, schools don't care that much.

This is the season of life you are in. Yes it's a pain. But it ends and then it doesn't matter. The endless complaining about how they need to fix the schedule by doing XYZ (which is always different from person to person because everyone had different ideas of what makes a schedule perfect) is a waste of time. There is no perfect schedule. Just figure out how to deal with it with your family and move on.

I did figure it out. I looked at the calendar and scheduled day-off camps and vacations to fit around it.

And then Ferebee went and changed it.

The calendar isn't working if they're not actually willing to use the snow days they scheduled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you all just love complaining. Let it go!!! Your kid can miss up to a certain number of school days a year without an excuse anyway, so if you didn't want to send them yesterday or don't want to send them on the extra day at the end, don't. No one will care.

This is just life. Sometimes you have to figure out childcare for younger kids during a day off. Sometimes there's a snow day and they have to add days to the end of the calendar. Whatever. Kids get older and this becomes less of an issue because they don't need childcare. And you can always just take an unexcused absence if you are leaving early for summer vacation or if had a trip planned this weekend -- as long as you don't do that too much, schools don't care that much.

This is the season of life you are in. Yes it's a pain. But it ends and then it doesn't matter. The endless complaining about how they need to fix the schedule by doing XYZ (which is always different from person to person because everyone had different ideas of what makes a schedule perfect) is a waste of time. There is no perfect schedule. Just figure out how to deal with it with your family and move on.

The rest of us work in the real world where this nonsense would never be tolerated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the records days are required, they used to be half days for students that counted as full days toward the 180 so we got out earlier. Families expressed that half days were harder for childcare. Most teachers hate the PD days and a lot of them take leave, but they are required as part of our contract.

Half days are not full days and should not be counted as such toward the 180. I can't understand why it's acceptable for DCPS to schedule only the MINIMUM amount of days of school, and then people still want to shorten it from there. In my school district, the schedule included more than the MINIMUM amount of instruction days to begin with -- so you only had to "make up" days if you got a lot of snow days. It is school. We should not be doing the minimum.

Half days are counted toward the 180 day minimum in almost every school district in America.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the records days are required, they used to be half days for students that counted as full days toward the 180 so we got out earlier. Families expressed that half days were harder for childcare. Most teachers hate the PD days and a lot of them take leave, but they are required as part of our contract.

Half days are not full days and should not be counted as such toward the 180. I can't understand why it's acceptable for DCPS to schedule only the MINIMUM amount of days of school, and then people still want to shorten it from there. In my school district, the schedule included more than the MINIMUM amount of instruction days to begin with -- so you only had to "make up" days if you got a lot of snow days. It is school. We should not be doing the minimum.

Half days are counted toward the 180 day minimum in almost every school district in America.

+1

MOCO uses half days so much to pad their number of school days. It’s a travesty thry actually get away with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you all just love complaining. Let it go!!! Your kid can miss up to a certain number of school days a year without an excuse anyway, so if you didn't want to send them yesterday or don't want to send them on the extra day at the end, don't. No one will care.

This is just life. Sometimes you have to figure out childcare for younger kids during a day off. Sometimes there's a snow day and they have to add days to the end of the calendar. Whatever. Kids get older and this becomes less of an issue because they don't need childcare. And you can always just take an unexcused absence if you are leaving early for summer vacation or if had a trip planned this weekend -- as long as you don't do that too much, schools don't care that much.

This is the season of life you are in. Yes it's a pain. But it ends and then it doesn't matter. The endless complaining about how they need to fix the schedule by doing XYZ (which is always different from person to person because everyone had different ideas of what makes a schedule perfect) is a waste of time. There is no perfect schedule. Just figure out how to deal with it with your family and move on.

The rest of us work in the real world where this nonsense would never be tolerated.

My job I can just pivot to working from home. Maybe you should consider what is ‘real’ to people.

If you don’t respect teaching as a profession why are you sending your child to school and not homeschooling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you all just love complaining. Let it go!!! Your kid can miss up to a certain number of school days a year without an excuse anyway, so if you didn't want to send them yesterday or don't want to send them on the extra day at the end, don't. No one will care.

This is just life. Sometimes you have to figure out childcare for younger kids during a day off. Sometimes there's a snow day and they have to add days to the end of the calendar. Whatever. Kids get older and this becomes less of an issue because they don't need childcare. And you can always just take an unexcused absence if you are leaving early for summer vacation or if had a trip planned this weekend -- as long as you don't do that too much, schools don't care that much.

This is the season of life you are in. Yes it's a pain. But it ends and then it doesn't matter. The endless complaining about how they need to fix the schedule by doing XYZ (which is always different from person to person because everyone had different ideas of what makes a schedule perfect) is a waste of time. There is no perfect schedule. Just figure out how to deal with it with your family and move on.

The rest of us work in the real world where this nonsense would never be tolerated.

My job I can just pivot to working from home. Maybe you should consider what is ‘real’ to people.

If you don’t respect teaching as a profession why are you sending your child to school and not homeschooling?

What does criticism of how DCPS sets and manages the school calendar have to do with respecting teaching as a profession?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you all just love complaining. Let it go!!! Your kid can miss up to a certain number of school days a year without an excuse anyway, so if you didn't want to send them yesterday or don't want to send them on the extra day at the end, don't. No one will care.

This is just life. Sometimes you have to figure out childcare for younger kids during a day off. Sometimes there's a snow day and they have to add days to the end of the calendar. Whatever. Kids get older and this becomes less of an issue because they don't need childcare. And you can always just take an unexcused absence if you are leaving early for summer vacation or if had a trip planned this weekend -- as long as you don't do that too much, schools don't care that much.

This is the season of life you are in. Yes it's a pain. But it ends and then it doesn't matter. The endless complaining about how they need to fix the schedule by doing XYZ (which is always different from person to person because everyone had different ideas of what makes a schedule perfect) is a waste of time. There is no perfect schedule. Just figure out how to deal with it with your family and move on.

The rest of us work in the real world where this nonsense would never be tolerated.

My job I can just pivot to working from home. Maybe you should consider what is ‘real’ to people.

If you don’t respect teaching as a profession why are you sending your child to school and not homeschooling?

It would be better if DCPS wasn't constantly trying to do the absolute minimum required. In other professions, that shit gets you fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you all just love complaining. Let it go!!! Your kid can miss up to a certain number of school days a year without an excuse anyway, so if you didn't want to send them yesterday or don't want to send them on the extra day at the end, don't. No one will care.

This is just life. Sometimes you have to figure out childcare for younger kids during a day off. Sometimes there's a snow day and they have to add days to the end of the calendar. Whatever. Kids get older and this becomes less of an issue because they don't need childcare. And you can always just take an unexcused absence if you are leaving early for summer vacation or if had a trip planned this weekend -- as long as you don't do that too much, schools don't care that much.

This is the season of life you are in. Yes it's a pain. But it ends and then it doesn't matter. The endless complaining about how they need to fix the schedule by doing XYZ (which is always different from person to person because everyone had different ideas of what makes a schedule perfect) is a waste of time. There is no perfect schedule. Just figure out how to deal with it with your family and move on.

The rest of us work in the real world where this nonsense would never be tolerated.

My job I can just pivot to working from home. Maybe you should consider what is ‘real’ to people.

If you don’t respect teaching as a profession why are you sending your child to school and not homeschooling?

It would be better if DCPS wasn't constantly trying to do the absolute minimum required. In other professions, that shit gets you fired.

This is school where there are only so many days in the calendar and a good chunk are in summer. Add in the need for breaks and other non-school days and dealing with makeups becomes difficult.