MCPS calendar extended by one day to Monday June 16

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw on the MCPS FB post about this someone said they chose this day because if they end school on a Monday, they are able to request a waiver for any additional days, per state law. That seems very odd that that is the only way to request a waiver. Anyone know how to read the MD state policy on this?

Can you post the language?

Facebook comment was: For those confused by the decision to add a day at the end of the year instead of another make up day, perhaps this explains it… if the 180th day of the school year is a Monday it becomes eligible for a waiver.

I couldn't find it through Google, so I asked Chat GPT. Below is what it said. I still don't think I understand. This reasoning would make sense if it applies to a Friday to me more than a Monday. And it just encourages school districts to game the system and schedule the last day for a Monday in order to avoid make-up days. Chat GPT response:

Yes, there is a specific regulation in Maryland law regarding the 180th day of school that allows for a bit of flexibility in the case that the final school day of the year falls on a Monday.
This is covered under COMAR (Code of Maryland Regulations), specifically COMAR 13A.02.04.01, which governs school year scheduling and the number of required instructional days.

The Rule for the 180th Day on a Monday:

• If the 180th day of school falls on a Monday, school districts may request a waiver to extend the school year by one additional day (i.e., to make it a total of 181 days). This is in case they need additional time due to weather-related closures or other missed days.
• This flexibility essentially acknowledges that districts may not have enough time to make up for missed days before the last Monday of the scheduled school year, which typically would mark the 180th day.
• This provision allows districts to make up for lost instructional time by extending the school year by one more day if the 180th day falls on a Monday.

Why This Happens:

• If the 180th day falls on a Monday and additional time is required (e.g., due to snow days or other closures), districts would not be able to meet the 180-day requirement by just extending the school year one day (as they normally would in cases where the 180th day falls later in the week).
• The waiver allows the district to use Monday as the final day if they absolutely need to extend the school year to make up for missed days, giving them some leeway.
Other Considerations:
• For most other cases where the 180th day is on any day of the week other than Monday, districts must meet the 180 days or hours requirement, and typically, no waiver is necessary unless there is a significant emergency or public health situation (e.g., a severe storm, health crisis, etc.).
• If the school year ends on a Monday and there’s an ongoing need to extend the year or adjust instructional hours, districts can request a waiver for additional days or hours from MSDE, as needed.

In Summary:

If the 180th day falls on a Monday, Maryland law does allow districts to request a waiver to extend the school year by one day to accommodate make-up time. In all other cases, the school must meet the 180-day requirement, and waivers for additional days can only be requested for extreme situations that prevent the district from meeting the minimum instructional time.

This is nonsense and inaccurate. Please don't use and pass along ChatGPT stuff, guys. Are there really people who haven't learned yet how untrustworthy it is?

What is inaccurate about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw on the MCPS FB post about this someone said they chose this day because if they end school on a Monday, they are able to request a waiver for any additional days, per state law. That seems very odd that that is the only way to request a waiver. Anyone know how to read the MD state policy on this?

They're wrong. They need to add three days to the calendar before the state can waive a Monday.

[Anonymous]

Read COMAR at: http://mdrules.elaws.us/comar/13a.02.01.04

The Monday wouldn't be eligible for a waiver.

[Anonymous]

Per COMAR, MCPS can't request a waiver until it has BOTH extended the school year 3 days past its original end date AND used up the make-up days it identified previously.

MCPS scheduled it for the Monday to extend the school year 3 days past the original closing date, but it didn't use any of the prior make-up days. I don't see how they can get a waiver.

And the Monday thing is in the law - the state is able to waive the last day being on a Monday more easily.

See https://dsd.maryland.gov/regulations/Pages/13A.02.01.04.aspx

Application for Waiver.

(1) In the required written application for waiver of school days, it shall be demonstrated that:

(a) The local school system developed a calendar which included days to be used to make up days lost. Depending upon past experience, this number could range from 3 to 10 days throughout the State. The local school system calendar shall have identified those potential make-up days which could have been used as student days when calendar modification becomes necessary; that is, make-up days, student vacation days, etc.

(b) The local school system has modified its calendar by scheduling school on the make-up days provided in the original calendar and by extending the school year 3 days beyond the previously scheduled closing date.

(2) In considering this application, the State Board of Education may waive:

(a) The final day needed to complete the 180-day schedule if that day falls on a Monday;

(b) Additional days beyond those specified in §D(1)(b) of this regulation that would have to be added to the calendar to complete a 180-day schedule.

[Anonymous]

I am a special education teacher and I will be using Jan. 29th to work on Quarterly Reports for students on my caseload. I have no other time to work on this. Each student has 3-6 goals and I need to report progress on each of those goals. This is in addition to grading any assignments that are turned in on Monday. I am also a math teacher and I have to grade District Assessments that count as 10%. These have to be graded on this marking period.

But, please fight to take this day away.

Calm down, no one is changing Jan 29 to a school day. Not sure why your District Assessments aren't already grade - my kid got his grade earlier this week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am a special education teacher and I will be using Jan. 29th to work on Quarterly Reports for students on my caseload. I have no other time to work on this. Each student has 3-6 goals and I need to report progress on each of those goals. This is in addition to grading any assignments that are turned in on Monday. I am also a math teacher and I have to grade District Assessments that count as 10%. These have to be graded on this marking period.

But, please fight to take this day away.

Calm down, no one is changing Jan 29 to a school day. Not sure why your District Assessments aren't already grade - my kid got his grade earlier this week.

DP. You can’t really compare teachers’ workloads. Some have considerably more students than others, and therefore a lot more to grade. Or it can be home life. I work with a teacher who gets student work back in two days, but she lives alone and uses every waking hour to work. (And I don’t think that’s healthy for her, but she’s the quickest grader in the building.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am a special education teacher and I will be using Jan. 29th to work on Quarterly Reports for students on my caseload. I have no other time to work on this. Each student has 3-6 goals and I need to report progress on each of those goals. This is in addition to grading any assignments that are turned in on Monday. I am also a math teacher and I have to grade District Assessments that count as 10%. These have to be graded on this marking period.

But, please fight to take this day away.

Calm down, no one is changing Jan 29 to a school day. Not sure why your District Assessments aren't already grade - my kid got his grade earlier this week.

If she’s a special educator, her students likely have extended time as well as accommodations such as limited length of testing sessions.

My friend’s son has worked on his EWP for three weeks and still says that he hasn’t finished. He gets 100% extended time and can only “test” for 30 min before he must be offered a 5 min break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there are more snow days, they'll add Tues & Wed of that week.

I am sure there will be. This winter was projected to be very snow heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if the the entire week of the 16th becomes school days. I actually hope it does so they learn their lesson. Honestly, the delayed start days should also be counted as those hours add up. Three delay start days should require one day added to the calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should be using January 29 (next Wednesday) instead of June 16!
A. It's soon after the closures
B. It's less than a month after the winter break C. School is already being held the rest of the week
D. It's listed as the first makeup day

If January 29 is used and March 31 and June 6 are reserved for the next 2 closures, school might not have to be held the week of June 16 unless there are 7+ closures.
Closures 1 and 2 no makeup days
Closure 3 makeup January 29
Closure 4 makeup March 31
Closure 5 makeup June 6
Closure 6 makeup June 16, however that is a Monday and some thing says the state would waive the makeup day of the last day would be on a Monday.

And when should teachers finalize grades and generate report cards. It is several hours of work not including grading.

I'm a teacher and it does not take several hours to finalize grades. Once assignments are graded, we click a submit button for each section of students we teach. We are not required to give comments at the end of the quarter, so I cannot honestly imagine what would take longer than that. Keep in mind that snow make-up days can be scheduled as early release so that the day is made up AND teachers get a couple of hours to finalize grades.

My school requires the WSH comments at the end of each marking period.

If my admin did not require that teachers accept work after the deadline, I could finish grades in a couple of hours after school. Instead, I really do grade all day. This was not the case before 2020. I used to finish grades by 9 AM and go to Dr appts.

We have to accept work until the last possible moment. We also have to go into synergy and change all zeros to 50%. We also have admin making last minute requests to pass certain kids who have done no work and have failing grades. Given all my classes are 30+ students, yes it takes several hours. Perhaps if you teach small elective classes or easy classes where hardly any one fails or has bad grades, it might be an easier experience. We also have to write quarterly reports on all our IEp students. End of quarter is a lot of work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are more snow days, they'll add Tues & Wed of that week.

I am sure there will be. This winter was projected to be very snow heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if the the entire week of the 16th becomes school days. I actually hope it does so they learn their lesson. Honestly, the delayed start days should also be counted as those hours add up. Three delay start days should require one day added to the calendar.

MCPS already has longer school days than required. It would be ridiculous to disregard these excess hours of instruction and focus on those occasional delayed starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are more snow days, they'll add Tues & Wed of that week.

I am sure there will be. This winter was projected to be very snow heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if the the entire week of the 16th becomes school days. I actually hope it does so they learn their lesson. Honestly, the delayed start days should also be counted as those hours add up. Three delay start days should require one day added to the calendar.

MCPS already has longer school days than required. It would be ridiculous to disregard these excess hours of instruction and focus on those occasional delayed starts.

Occasional? LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are more snow days, they'll add Tues & Wed of that week.

I am sure there will be. This winter was projected to be very snow heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if the the entire week of the 16th becomes school days. I actually hope it does so they learn their lesson. Honestly, the delayed start days should also be counted as those hours add up. Three delay start days should require one day added to the calendar.

The Thursday 19th can't be a school day because Biden made it a Federal holiday. And if anyone thinks students are coming back on Friday after a day off Thursday is cray

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are more snow days, they'll add Tues & Wed of that week.

I am sure there will be. This winter was projected to be very snow heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if the the entire week of the 16th becomes school days. I actually hope it does so they learn their lesson. Honestly, the delayed start days should also be counted as those hours add up. Three delay start days should require one day added to the calendar.

The Thursday 19th can't be a school day because Biden made it a Federal holiday. And if anyone thinks students are coming back on Friday after a day off Thursday is cray

Yes. I predict there will be a couple more snow days, and school will end on the 18th. If it snows more than that, they should be able to get a waiver. Meaning teachers' last day would be the 20th.

[Anonymous]

Dear God, just use June 6th as the make up day. This is clearly the least disruptive option.

[Anonymous]

Omg omg one day of school