MCPS extended through June 17

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

Howard County was denied roo. No surprise MCPS was also. I wish we would implement more half days as the last days. In MS and HS, the kids just want to use the last full days to run amok.

With that attitude coming from their teachers, of course they are.

It's a pity we didn't use the far better make-up days that we had in the calendar. Taylor really screwed up here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: calendar, why can't district have spring break each year in March instead of around Easter? Give a few days off for Easter (Thurs and Fri and maybe keep Monday closed) and have spring break in March.

State law requires there to be no school on Monday after Easter.

State law requires those two days, but it doesn't require spring break to be tied to Easter. I hate how late spring break winds up some years too, PP.

The real issue here is that MCPS refuses to actually plan for weather closure days. Budget in actual make up days that are intended to be used or have days at the end of the calendar as a contingency plan, but let's stop pretending one or two days covers things when that rarely is the case.

[Anonymous]

The other issue is we have so many days off for cultural/religious observances. I fall in one of these groups and wish they were excused absences vs days off school.

If those were removed, we could still have a 10 week summer AND snow days.

The other option would be to switch to a 9 week summer break, especially during school years like this one that had election day off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

Howard County was denied roo. No surprise MCPS was also. I wish we would implement more half days as the last days. In MS and HS, the kids just want to use the last full days to run amok.

With that attitude coming from their teachers, of course they are.

It's a pity we didn't use the far better make-up days that we had in the calendar. Taylor really screwed up here.

It’s not Taylor’s fault. He has to work within the confines dictated by state law, staff employment contracts, and school board approval. He was hired into a situation where there were only two built-in snow days in the calendar and the dates named as potential make-up days for any additional closures were untenable for teachers. He didn’t make those decisions; he inherited them. We were unlikely to receive a waiver to avoid having to make up the last snow day, but there was no harm in asking for one. Since it wasn’t granted, he now has to decide which make-up day he will recommend to the school from a list of less-than-ideal options. Which stakeholders should he piss off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

Howard County was denied roo. No surprise MCPS was also. I wish we would implement more half days as the last days. In MS and HS, the kids just want to use the last full days to run amok.

With that attitude coming from their teachers, of course they are.

It's a pity we didn't use the far better make-up days that we had in the calendar. Taylor really screwed up here.

What's the attitude? Have you been in a middle school the last few days? 8th graders in particular are horrible. I don't know if a half day would work, but this PP is correct about student behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

Howard County was denied roo. No surprise MCPS was also. I wish we would implement more half days as the last days. In MS and HS, the kids just want to use the last full days to run amok.

With that attitude coming from their teachers, of course they are.

It's a pity we didn't use the far better make-up days that we had in the calendar. Taylor really screwed up here.

It’s not Taylor’s fault. He has to work within the confines dictated by state law, staff employment contracts, and school board approval. He was hired into a situation where there were only two built-in snow days in the calendar and the dates named as potential make-up days for any additional closures were untenable for teachers. He didn’t make those decisions; he inherited them. We were unlikely to receive a waiver to avoid having to make up the last snow day, but there was no harm in asking for one. Since it wasn’t granted, he now has to decide which make-up day he will recommend to the school from a list of less-than-ideal options. Which stakeholders should he piss off?

The make-up days were not untenable for teachers. I didn't hear anyone raise concerns about those days when they put in the calendar as make-up days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other issue is we have so many days off for cultural/religious observances. I fall in one of these groups and wish they were excused absences vs days off school.

If those were removed, we could still have a 10 week summer AND snow days.

The other option would be to switch to a 9 week summer break, especially during school years like this one that had election day off.

Agree with this. I’m Hindu and my kids don’t need off for Diwali. Let them go to school.

Or shortening the summer to 9 weeks could also work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

Howard County was denied roo. No surprise MCPS was also. I wish we would implement more half days as the last days. In MS and HS, the kids just want to use the last full days to run amok.

With that attitude coming from their teachers, of course they are.

It's a pity we didn't use the far better make-up days that we had in the calendar. Taylor really screwed up here.

It’s not Taylor’s fault. He has to work within the confines dictated by state law, staff employment contracts, and school board approval. He was hired into a situation where there were only two built-in snow days in the calendar and the dates named as potential make-up days for any additional closures were untenable for teachers. He didn’t make those decisions; he inherited them. We were unlikely to receive a waiver to avoid having to make up the last snow day, but there was no harm in asking for one. Since it wasn’t granted, he now has to decide which make-up day he will recommend to the school from a list of less-than-ideal options. Which stakeholders should he piss off?

Except next year he's making the problem even worse by only building one snow day into the calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

Howard County was denied roo. No surprise MCPS was also. I wish we would implement more half days as the last days. In MS and HS, the kids just want to use the last full days to run amok.

With that attitude coming from their teachers, of course they are.

It's a pity we didn't use the far better make-up days that we had in the calendar. Taylor really screwed up here.

It’s not Taylor’s fault. He has to work within the confines dictated by state law, staff employment contracts, and school board approval. He was hired into a situation where there were only two built-in snow days in the calendar and the dates named as potential make-up days for any additional closures were untenable for teachers. He didn’t make those decisions; he inherited them. We were unlikely to receive a waiver to avoid having to make up the last snow day, but there was no harm in asking for one. Since it wasn’t granted, he now has to decide which make-up day he will recommend to the school from a list of less-than-ideal options. Which stakeholders should he piss off?

Except next year he's making the problem even worse by only building one snow day into the calendar.

Is think he’s hamstrung by state law, employment contracts, and the school board’s historical expansion of days off coinciding with religious holidays. He can’t make the calendar work without starting school earlier or taking away a day off on a religious holiday or failing to build in snow days. I’d vote for starting school a week earlier, but by choosing to eliminate all but one snow day, he’s avoiding pissing off any one particular constituency or at least pissing off every constituency equally instead of picking just one. If he gets lucky and we have a mild winter, no one complains. I can’t blame the new guy for picking the path of least resistance.

[Anonymous]

For HS students, adding days at the end of the year makes zero sense.... AP's are all over before Memorial Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

Howard County was denied roo. No surprise MCPS was also. I wish we would implement more half days as the last days. In MS and HS, the kids just want to use the last full days to run amok.

With that attitude coming from their teachers, of course they are.

It's a pity we didn't use the far better make-up days that we had in the calendar. Taylor really screwed up here.

It’s not Taylor’s fault. He has to work within the confines dictated by state law, staff employment contracts, and school board approval. He was hired into a situation where there were only two built-in snow days in the calendar and the dates named as potential make-up days for any additional closures were untenable for teachers. He didn’t make those decisions; he inherited them. We were unlikely to receive a waiver to avoid having to make up the last snow day, but there was no harm in asking for one. Since it wasn’t granted, he now has to decide which make-up day he will recommend to the school from a list of less-than-ideal options. Which stakeholders should he piss off?

Except next year he's making the problem even worse by only building one snow day into the calendar.

Is think he’s hamstrung by state law, employment contracts, and the school board’s historical expansion of days off coinciding with religious holidays. He can’t make the calendar work without starting school earlier or taking away a day off on a religious holiday or failing to build in snow days. I’d vote for starting school a week earlier, but by choosing to eliminate all but one snow day, he’s avoiding pissing off any one particular constituency or at least pissing off every constituency equally instead of picking just one. If he gets lucky and we have a mild winter, no one complains. I can’t blame the new guy for picking the path of least resistance.

He took away a day to add a transition day that never existed before — kids who were transitioning to a new secondary school went to school for a half day the week before school started, and ES kids had an open house to meet their teacher. That came directly from him. He is moving in the wrong direction.

[Anonymous]

How did MCPS make it work under Hogan when he mandated school had to start after Labor Day and end by June 15?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did MCPS make it work under Hogan when he mandated school had to start after Labor Day and end by June 15?

One Eid was in summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did MCPS make it work under Hogan when he mandated school had to start after Labor Day and end by June 15?

They didn't have as many days off. No Lunar new year, no Diwali, not as many teacher workdays. No day off in October (?) for teachers to attend the state teacher conference in Ocean City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard the waiver for the snow days was not approved so school will now be until Tuesday, June 17. Will Monday and Tuesday both be half days now?

I truly doubt Monday June 16 will be a half day. When the school year is extended, MCPS always has language that the new last day will be a half day and the previous half day will now be a full day.