Schools closed April 21

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 22nd is also a 3 hr early release for my ES kids. Just hoping SACC will be open the 21st.

I think the other poster was joking but seriously, if you can take PTO, just take a 5 day weekend and make memories with your kids instead of stressing about the most insane patchwork calendar. Your kids won't miss anything. If they are younger, anything taught Monday will have to be retaught Thursday in routine and if your kids are older, they can self-study during travel.

You don't have to play their games.

We already have other travel planned this spring but yeah it would be a good week to travel.

Decided it’s a good long weekend to go to our vacation house and do spring projects.

[Anonymous]

OK - this one is for an election and is 100% not FCPS' fault. Give it a rest!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK - this one is for an election and is 100% not FCPS' fault. Give it a rest!

Teacher here. Yes. It isn’t FCPS’s fault but there should be a compromise. They should cancel the next two ER days to make up for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 22nd is also a 3 hr early release for my ES kids. Just hoping SACC will be open the 21st.

I think the other poster was joking but seriously, if you can take PTO, just take a 5 day weekend and make memories with your kids instead of stressing about the most insane patchwork calendar. Your kids won't miss anything. If they are younger, anything taught Monday will have to be retaught Thursday in routine and if your kids are older, they can self-study during travel.

You don't have to play their games.

We already have other travel planned this spring but yeah it would be a good week to travel.

I have to wonder what the absences have been like for UMC children in elementary school this year.

I’m at a school with a majority of UMC students. Our percentage of chronically absent students is down 6% points from this time a year ago.

[Anonymous]

I’m happy about the day off. We had way too many 5 day weeks in the spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They need to remove the three hour early release that same week if schools are closed on the 21st. Teachers now have that FULL day to do work.

not every Elementary school has the same 3 hour release days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK - this one is for an election and is 100% not FCPS' fault. Give it a rest!

Teacher here. Yes. It isn’t FCPS’s fault but there should be a compromise. They should cancel the next two ER days to make up for it.

Love the idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK - this one is for an election and is 100% not FCPS' fault. Give it a rest!

Teacher here. Yes. It isn’t FCPS’s fault but there should be a compromise. They should cancel the next two ER days to make up for it.

Love the idea!

They won’t. Your ideas don’t matter, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:'Fairfax County Public Schools will still exceed the required number of instructional hours for students, as set by the Virginia Department of Education."

I love that the bar is the bare minimum. Missing days, especially at the end of the year before finals and AP exams definitely has an impact.

They really need to do away with the religious holidays.

You really wanted to regurgitate your "the bar is the bare minimum" line you've said on DOZENS of FCPS post so badly that you're willing to use it even when it doesn't make sense.

This is FCPS saying that they're still SURPASSING/EXCEEDING/DOING MORE THAN the minimum of hours.

So yes, like everything else with a numerically based legal obligation, they're referencing the number they must meet. If they were doing the bare minimum, they would've said:

"FCPS will now be meeting the exact number of required number of instructional hours for students, as set by the Virginia Department of Education."

But they didn't say that. You just wished they did.

NP-you're really arguing semantics and I agree with the prior poster. FCPS is only meeting a very low bar and they are doing the bare minimum. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.

Semantics? Words have specific meaning. Perhaps a lack of understanding of the definition of "bare minimum" is a more accurate argument for you to try and use.

Fairfax County Public Schools EXCEEDING the amount of required hours, by definition, is doing MORE than the "bare minimum".

But are they exceeding when they have canceling so much school this year? they are lucky they are meeting the minimum. And the bar is a very low 990 hours or 180 days. The min is only 5.5 hours a day and we all know 3/4 of that time is spent in transition or eating lunch.

Yes, they are still exceeding the minimum even with canceling “so much school” (aka 6? Snow days ((with 11 built in)) and this 1 unplanned election). If they were not meeting or exceeding the minimum, they would be adding days.

Also, 75% of your child’s school day is not spent in transitions or lunch. Let’s be realistic here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tuesday, April 21 will be a student holiday because of the redistricting voting. 168 schools are used as polling places.

There will not be any elections on June 16 as previously planned.

I don’t think this is happening. It’s still in the courts.

This didn’t age well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous. Is it really unsafe to go forward with the voting while schools in session?
-teacher

This reminds me so much of people trying to come up with alternative solutions during COVID and just being told that nothing was possible, there are no solutions other than schools remaining closed.

At my kids’ school (elementary), voting is done in the cafeteria in the front of the school and voters use the main front entrance. There is no real reason why they couldn’t use the gym toward the rear of the school, which has its own entrance/exit (an emergency exit, so would have to be disabled but I know this is possible as events are sometimes set up in the gym and can be loaded directly from the blacktop outside). Close the doors from the gym to the school hallway. People come in to the gym directly from school grounds and leave out the same door. Cancel PE classes for that one day, or have them meet outside, weather permitting, or have them do health activities in the classroom. Kids can still eat in the cafeteria which I know is important as we have about a 20% FARMS rate. An elections official can monitor the entrance and exit, and elections officials could use dividers and signs to point the way as it will be different than usual.

There are solutions - they just don’t want to do the work to do them because it’s far easier to close the schools. With most people voting early these days, turnout at these special elections is quite low anyway. I checked and for the 2025 general election - obviously a much larger election than the one coming up in April - we had less than 1000 votes cast on Election Day. The ballot measure will probably have half that.

This!! Thank you!! Yes, there are solutions! But for some reason, nobody wants them!! We as Americans cannot adapt; we cannot accept any *risk*; we cannot evolve and find solutions. The problem of our era is the mindset that we cannot deal with a change or interruption except to just shut down. Do we really expect everything in life to be planned perfectly a year in advance? We cannot deal with adversity? We cannot handle any perturbation? Are we that weak? As a society, this is crippling. Our youth (without a voice) are paying the price with their education, our parents (heavily mothers) are paying the price of a chaotic schedule. We are setting an absurd example that any ripple in the water should be met with shutting down. How does this serve our kids??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK - this one is for an election and is 100% not FCPS' fault. Give it a rest!

It is their decision to cancel schools for voting we used to hold voting when schools remained open still. That is possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:'Fairfax County Public Schools will still exceed the required number of instructional hours for students, as set by the Virginia Department of Education."

I love that the bar is the bare minimum. Missing days, especially at the end of the year before finals and AP exams definitely has an impact.

They really need to do away with the religious holidays.

You really wanted to regurgitate your "the bar is the bare minimum" line you've said on DOZENS of FCPS post so badly that you're willing to use it even when it doesn't make sense.

This is FCPS saying that they're still SURPASSING/EXCEEDING/DOING MORE THAN the minimum of hours.

So yes, like everything else with a numerically based legal obligation, they're referencing the number they must meet. If they were doing the bare minimum, they would've said:

"FCPS will now be meeting the exact number of required number of instructional hours for students, as set by the Virginia Department of Education."

But they didn't say that. You just wished they did.

NP-you're really arguing semantics and I agree with the prior poster. FCPS is only meeting a very low bar and they are doing the bare minimum. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.

Semantics? Words have specific meaning. Perhaps a lack of understanding of the definition of "bare minimum" is a more accurate argument for you to try and use.

Fairfax County Public Schools EXCEEDING the amount of required hours, by definition, is doing MORE than the "bare minimum".

But are they exceeding when they have canceling so much school this year? they are lucky they are meeting the minimum. And the bar is a very low 990 hours or 180 days. The min is only 5.5 hours a day and we all know 3/4 of that time is spent in transition or eating lunch.

Agree! The delayed starts started with 30 minute mtg, then lunch and recess! It is so stupid. So he started learning at 1pm those days which probably included specials. And math is normally in the morning. So no math on delayed starts. It is so ridiculous that they call these school days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous. Is it really unsafe to go forward with the voting while schools in session?
-teacher

This reminds me so much of people trying to come up with alternative solutions during COVID and just being told that nothing was possible, there are no solutions other than schools remaining closed.

At my kids’ school (elementary), voting is done in the cafeteria in the front of the school and voters use the main front entrance. There is no real reason why they couldn’t use the gym toward the rear of the school, which has its own entrance/exit (an emergency exit, so would have to be disabled but I know this is possible as events are sometimes set up in the gym and can be loaded directly from the blacktop outside). Close the doors from the gym to the school hallway. People come in to the gym directly from school grounds and leave out the same door. Cancel PE classes for that one day, or have them meet outside, weather permitting, or have them do health activities in the classroom. Kids can still eat in the cafeteria which I know is important as we have about a 20% FARMS rate. An elections official can monitor the entrance and exit, and elections officials could use dividers and signs to point the way as it will be different than usual.

There are solutions - they just don’t want to do the work to do them because it’s far easier to close the schools. With most people voting early these days, turnout at these special elections is quite low anyway. I checked and for the 2025 general election - obviously a much larger election than the one coming up in April - we had less than 1000 votes cast on Election Day. The ballot measure will probably have half that.

You don't even have to get creative. FCPS didn't always close on election days. It's not "it can be done" it is "it has been done." Go look up the old plans and use them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous. Is it really unsafe to go forward with the voting while schools in session?
-teacher

This reminds me so much of people trying to come up with alternative solutions during COVID and just being told that nothing was possible, there are no solutions other than schools remaining closed.

At my kids’ school (elementary), voting is done in the cafeteria in the front of the school and voters use the main front entrance. There is no real reason why they couldn’t use the gym toward the rear of the school, which has its own entrance/exit (an emergency exit, so would have to be disabled but I know this is possible as events are sometimes set up in the gym and can be loaded directly from the blacktop outside). Close the doors from the gym to the school hallway. People come in to the gym directly from school grounds and leave out the same door. Cancel PE classes for that one day, or have them meet outside, weather permitting, or have them do health activities in the classroom. Kids can still eat in the cafeteria which I know is important as we have about a 20% FARMS rate. An elections official can monitor the entrance and exit, and elections officials could use dividers and signs to point the way as it will be different than usual.

There are solutions - they just don’t want to do the work to do them because it’s far easier to close the schools. With most people voting early these days, turnout at these special elections is quite low anyway. I checked and for the 2025 general election - obviously a much larger election than the one coming up in April - we had less than 1000 votes cast on Election Day. The ballot measure will probably have half that.

This!! Thank you!! Yes, there are solutions! But for some reason, nobody wants them!! We as Americans cannot adapt; we cannot accept any *risk*; we cannot evolve and find solutions. The problem of our era is the mindset that we cannot deal with a change or interruption except to just shut down. Do we really expect everything in life to be planned perfectly a year in advance? We cannot deal with adversity? We cannot handle any perturbation? Are we that weak? As a society, this is crippling. Our youth (without a voice) are paying the price with their education, our parents (heavily mothers) are paying the price of a chaotic schedule. We are setting an absurd example that any ripple in the water should be met with shutting down. How does this serve our kids??

If you teach your children otherwise, it serves your kids really well. Because they will be competing against people who cannot cope in the real world.