How DO we get the calendar changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

You're so exhausting. You must be a miserable ugly person. Just let it be. People hate the calendar. You cannot change the discourse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

You're so exhausting. You must be a miserable ugly person. Just let it be. People hate the calendar. You cannot change the discourse.

Let’s not resort to personal insults. It’s what they want. Hold yourself to a higher standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

You're so exhausting. You must be a miserable ugly person. Just let it be. People hate the calendar. You cannot change the discourse.

Let’s not resort to personal insults. It’s what they want. Hold yourself to a higher standard.

Do what they’re trying to get you not to— engage the board, engage your board of supervisors rep, call Spanbergers office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

Well to be fair, schools aren't great at data or math.

Clearly some of these parents missed some lessons.

Would be happy to hear your data— qualitative or quantitative— that reflects support for the current calendar.

The only way any of us will know whether this calendar had an academic effect on kids, will be to see the data at the EOY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

Well to be fair, schools aren't great at data or math.

Clearly some of these parents missed some lessons.

Would be happy to hear your data— qualitative or quantitative— that reflects support for the current calendar.

The only way any of us will know whether this calendar had an academic effect on kids, will be to see the data at the EOY.

+1

Until then it’s opinion vs opinion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

Well to be fair, schools aren't great at data or math.

Clearly some of these parents missed some lessons.

Would be happy to hear your data— qualitative or quantitative— that reflects support for the current calendar.

The only way any of us will know whether this calendar had an academic effect on kids, will be to see the data at the EOY.

+1

Until then it’s opinion vs opinion

The board will have to make a decision without that data then, because it’s on tomorrow’s agenda, and people will know before election day if they took action.

[Anonymous]

With all the early release days my 3rd grader comes home with a significant amount of teaching that was skipped. They didn’t get to it and they move on. Since January numerous concepts are skipped. Meanwhile my K watches movies on early release days. The early release days for weather and 2hrs delays have been very very disruptive. Total hours is meaningless is the quality is poor. Let the kids who celebrate Eid take off as an excused absence what does the entire school need to be off for a holiday most don’t celebrate?🙌

[Anonymous]

It’s not just the schedule and the weather days, it’s the scheduled early releases adding insult to injury. They don’t do anything at school on the scheduled 3 hour days. Those days really are the “BaBySiTtInG” people on here are ranting about. They need to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

Well to be fair, schools aren't great at data or math.

Clearly some of these parents missed some lessons.

Would be happy to hear your data— qualitative or quantitative— that reflects support for the current calendar.

The only way any of us will know whether this calendar had an academic effect on kids, will be to see the data at the EOY.

+1

Until then it’s opinion vs opinion

Seriously, you think the ONLY factor affecting student performance this year will be the CALENDAR? Not losing kids to federal force loss/moves, or that that the ESL population has decreased, or that the elementary teachers and kids have had benchmark advance for a couple of years now? No, you think that by looking at student academic data, you can make a direct correlation and determine that the cause was the CALENDAR (not even weather related snow days) but the CALENDAR?

You embarrass your college degree just proposing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

“An unprecedented number” is a qualitative statement, the exact opposite of quantitative data.

Well to be fair, schools aren't great at data or math.

Clearly some of these parents missed some lessons.

Would be happy to hear your data— qualitative or quantitative— that reflects support for the current calendar.

The only way any of us will know whether this calendar had an academic effect on kids, will be to see the data at the EOY.

+1

Until then it’s opinion vs opinion

Seriously, you think the ONLY factor affecting student performance this year will be the CALENDAR? Not losing kids to federal force loss/moves, or that that the ESL population has decreased, or that the elementary teachers and kids have had benchmark advance for a couple of years now? No, you think that by looking at student academic data, you can make a direct correlation and determine that the cause was the CALENDAR (not even weather related snow days) but the CALENDAR?

You embarrass your college degree just proposing that.

Didn’t you know the calendar is the sole cause of not only academic underachievement, but also financial burdens on households, inability for parents to work, and the ESL population decrease?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

I dislike the 2025-26 calendar, specifically. The 2024-25 calendar was fine. The 2026-27 calendar is fine. The 2027-28 calendar is fine.

With all due respect, this is the problem. The issue is not whether specific calendar is lucky enough to have religious holidays fall on weekends, or spring break/Easter alignment to be reasonable or whatever. That's pure luck - other years will be as dismal as this year.

Issue is more the ridiculous "Guiding Principles" FCPS uses in setting the calendar to begin with - need to recognize every religious holiday regardless of how many folks observe, endless training/planning days etc. Other poster in their SB letter said it well: calendar is already borderline unreasonable under perfect weather/contingency conditions. But throw in inevitable snow days, mythical tornado days, early release Wed etc. - and it's brutal if your goal is actually to educate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

I dislike the 2025-26 calendar, specifically. The 2024-25 calendar was fine. The 2026-27 calendar is fine. The 2027-28 calendar is fine.

With all due respect, this is the problem. The issue is not whether specific calendar is lucky enough to have religious holidays fall on weekends, or spring break/Easter alignment to be reasonable or whatever. That's pure luck - other years will be as dismal as this year.

Issue is more the ridiculous "Guiding Principles" FCPS uses in setting the calendar to begin with - need to recognize every religious holiday regardless of how many folks observe, endless training/planning days etc. Other poster in their SB letter said it well: calendar is already borderline unreasonable under perfect weather/contingency conditions. But throw in inevitable snow days, mythical tornado days, early release Wed etc. - and it's brutal if your goal is actually to educate.

+1

FCPS needs to get clear on their priorities and set calendars that reflect those priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

I dislike the 2025-26 calendar, specifically. The 2024-25 calendar was fine. The 2026-27 calendar is fine. The 2027-28 calendar is fine.

With all due respect, this is the problem. The issue is not whether specific calendar is lucky enough to have religious holidays fall on weekends, or spring break/Easter alignment to be reasonable or whatever. That's pure luck - other years will be as dismal as this year.

Issue is more the ridiculous "Guiding Principles" FCPS uses in setting the calendar to begin with - need to recognize every religious holiday regardless of how many folks observe, endless training/planning days etc. Other poster in their SB letter said it well: calendar is already borderline unreasonable under perfect weather/contingency conditions. But throw in inevitable snow days, mythical tornado days, early release Wed etc. - and it's brutal if your goal is actually to educate.

+1

FCPS needs to get clear on their priorities and set calendars that reflect those priorities.

They had a whole group of stakeholders (board members, parents, civic groups) and THIS is what they came up with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

I dislike the 2025-26 calendar, specifically. The 2024-25 calendar was fine. The 2026-27 calendar is fine. The 2027-28 calendar is fine.

With all due respect, this is the problem. The issue is not whether specific calendar is lucky enough to have religious holidays fall on weekends, or spring break/Easter alignment to be reasonable or whatever. That's pure luck - other years will be as dismal as this year.

Issue is more the ridiculous "Guiding Principles" FCPS uses in setting the calendar to begin with - need to recognize every religious holiday regardless of how many folks observe, endless training/planning days etc. Other poster in their SB letter said it well: calendar is already borderline unreasonable under perfect weather/contingency conditions. But throw in inevitable snow days, mythical tornado days, early release Wed etc. - and it's brutal if your goal is actually to educate.

+1

FCPS needs to get clear on their priorities and set calendars that reflect those priorities.

And people need to prepare for and accept that FCPS’ priorities may not align with their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't get off for "every possible holiday." They added only FOUR holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and Eid) as days off, in addition to already having a 2-week winter break for Christmas and tying Spring Break to Easter. Stop using holidays as a scapegoat.

I'd love to have fewer weather closures, but the weather and road clearing is not really in the school's control.

Lunar new year.
Eid is like 3 different days.

At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance.

We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar.

The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks.

Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf)

They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise.

Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter.

It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer.

See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer.

That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed.

Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple.

Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud.

Academically there's no reason to have so many disjointed days off.

I have not met a single parent who is happy with the calendar. You're right that most people aren't extremely vocal, but none are happy. Nearly everyone is very unhappy with it. Just Americans are a passive bunch and we aren't going to protest and riot.

“None are happy”

“Nearly everyone is very unhappy”

These statements are literally the definition of an anecdotal fallacy. You can’t speak for hundreds of thousands of people. There are literally posters on this thread who have no problem with it. Yes, you and your circle and the people you have talked to dislike it, but you truly have no idea what percentage or amount of people hate it vs love it.

The board said in September they had an unprecedented number of complaints about the calendar, and that was before the snow days. Thats pretty reliable data.

I dislike the 2025-26 calendar, specifically. The 2024-25 calendar was fine. The 2026-27 calendar is fine. The 2027-28 calendar is fine.

With all due respect, this is the problem. The issue is not whether specific calendar is lucky enough to have religious holidays fall on weekends, or spring break/Easter alignment to be reasonable or whatever. That's pure luck - other years will be as dismal as this year.

Issue is more the ridiculous "Guiding Principles" FCPS uses in setting the calendar to begin with - need to recognize every religious holiday regardless of how many folks observe, endless training/planning days etc. Other poster in their SB letter said it well: calendar is already borderline unreasonable under perfect weather/contingency conditions. But throw in inevitable snow days, mythical tornado days, early release Wed etc. - and it's brutal if your goal is actually to educate.

+1

FCPS needs to get clear on their priorities and set calendars that reflect those priorities.

They had a whole group of stakeholders (board members, parents, civic groups) and THIS is what they came up with.

No, this isn’t what “they” came up with. This is what Reid came up with behind closed doors and presented to the board.