Why doesn't MCPS include more than 1 snow day in the calendar?

[Anonymous]

When I started teaching, in the late 90s, I think we had 5 days built into the calendar. Over the years it slowly decreased to the 1 that we have now. There was a period in time when the state would waive the days if Maryland was in a state of emergency, so we didn't need as many of those days. I think they thought we could get a way with fewer days, banking on getting a waiver. Then Hogan came in and stopped that and now the state wants to see an attempt to use the make up days before getting a waiver. MCPS used to add on days to the end of the school year first, which made asking for the waiver difficult. Who knows what will happen this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I started teaching, in the late 90s, I think we had 5 days built into the calendar. Over the years it slowly decreased to the 1 that we have now. There was a period in time when the state would waive the days if Maryland was in a state of emergency, so we didn't need as many of those days. I think they thought we could get a way with fewer days, banking on getting a waiver. Then Hogan came in and stopped that and now the state wants to see an attempt to use the make up days before getting a waiver. MCPS used to add on days to the end of the school year first, which made asking for the waiver difficult. Who knows what will happen this year.

It's so ridiculous the state expects school systems to educate children. Idiots s/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because we've had light winters for the last several years so they just got used to not needing many snow days. I always thought that it was foolish to have anything less than 4 snow days baked into the calendar but that's purely my observation as a parent. Not sure what the insider reasons are.

I do think there was also the pressure to continue to recognize more non-Christian holidays (Diwali, Lunar New Year) in addition to MCPS's already recognized Jewish holidays. Also, the teachers' union strongly demanded more half days or non-instructional days to catch up on grading and/or PD.

So I think that squeezed out all of the snow days that used to be baked into the calendar.

The PP is correct. I have one who's a HS senior, and one in college. When they started MCPs, there were 4 days included. We typically had more snowfall then + no Lunar New Year, Diwali, Eid, and Passover. Yes, I realize that all the previously mentioned days are not always off, but there has been a concerted effort to make them teacher work days.

Since my elder one started school, we always had Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as days off.

MCPS can do what Loudoun County, VA does. There's the option to have a 9 week summer break vs a 10 week summer break. They get many days off during the school year & typically have more snow days too.

Passover occasionally falls late, but it is often so close to Spring Break that non-Jews don’t notice it.

Having Passover off is the right thing to do. Kids will be up late for Seders two nights in a row. Everyone can learn from the message of surviving government tyranny and seeking freedom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the last few years, MCPS only included 1 snow day in the calendar. Why don't they include more snow days? In the past, I think they had 3 snow days which is much more realistic given snowfall in this area.

Instead, it seems we've fallen into a pattern of having several snow days, and then MCPS adding ad hoc some June days at the end of the year, where they state no new instruction will take place because they know all the kids will be at summer camp anyway.

Why do people talk sooo much about this and the snow? If you spent all that time trying to figure out how to better the schools, the county could be back at top of schools. Geez. There was discussion about the 26-27 calendar. Can't you add to that thread instead of starting a new one? It's the same damn talk over and over on each snow day. Do something when you can not after. Vote. Completed the survey. Advocate beforehand!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the last few years, MCPS only included 1 snow day in the calendar. Why don't they include more snow days? In the past, I think they had 3 snow days which is much more realistic given snowfall in this area.

Instead, it seems we've fallen into a pattern of having several snow days, and then MCPS adding ad hoc some June days at the end of the year, where they state no new instruction will take place because they know all the kids will be at summer camp anyway.

Why do people talk sooo much about this and the snow? If you spent all that time trying to figure out how to better the schools, the county could be back at top of schools. Geez. There was discussion about the 26-27 calendar. Can't you add to that thread instead of starting a new one? It's the same damn talk over and over on each snow day. Do something when you can not after. Vote. Completed the survey. Advocate beforehand!

Calendar thread:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1305270.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because we've had light winters for the last several years so they just got used to not needing many snow days. I always thought that it was foolish to have anything less than 4 snow days baked into the calendar but that's purely my observation as a parent. Not sure what the insider reasons are.

I do think there was also the pressure to continue to recognize more non-Christian holidays (Diwali, Lunar New Year) in addition to MCPS's already recognized Jewish holidays. Also, the teachers' union strongly demanded more half days or non-instructional days to catch up on grading and/or PD.

So I think that squeezed out all of the snow days that used to be baked into the calendar.

The PP is correct. I have one who's a HS senior, and one in college. When they started MCPs, there were 4 days included. We typically had more snowfall then + no Lunar New Year, Diwali, Eid, and Passover. Yes, I realize that all the previously mentioned days are not always off, but there has been a concerted effort to make them teacher work days.

Since my elder one started school, we always had Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as days off.

MCPS can do what Loudoun County, VA does. There's the option to have a 9 week summer break vs a 10 week summer break. They get many days off during the school year & typically have more snow days too.

Passover occasionally falls late, but it is often so close to Spring Break that non-Jews don’t notice it.

Having Passover off is the right thing to do. Kids will be up late for Seders two nights in a row. Everyone can learn from the message of surviving government tyranny and seeking freedom.

MCPS excuses any student or teacher who takes a day off due to a religious holiday. There is no need for the entire county to observe religious holidays that do not impact a large number of students.

We used to have a threshold of 15% absenteeism (teachers + students) in order to put a religious holiday on the calendar. That threshold is why we have Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I don't even know if they'd meet the threshold currently, and Eid, Diwali, and Lunar New Year certainly would not. There is no need to extend the school year by having these days off - if we feel the need to give a nod to them or to have a teacher workday, make them half days, which count toward 180.

And please don't say I'm being insensitive - we cannot possibly honor every religious holiday that occurs in such a diverse county - all religious holidays are important to those who celebrate them, as they should be. But that's not the same as closing an enormous school system for holidays that a relatively small percentage of stakeholders celebrate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because we've had light winters for the last several years so they just got used to not needing many snow days. I always thought that it was foolish to have anything less than 4 snow days baked into the calendar but that's purely my observation as a parent. Not sure what the insider reasons are.

I do think there was also the pressure to continue to recognize more non-Christian holidays (Diwali, Lunar New Year) in addition to MCPS's already recognized Jewish holidays. Also, the teachers' union strongly demanded more half days or non-instructional days to catch up on grading and/or PD.

So I think that squeezed out all of the snow days that used to be baked into the calendar.

The PP is correct. I have one who's a HS senior, and one in college. When they started MCPs, there were 4 days included. We typically had more snowfall then + no Lunar New Year, Diwali, Eid, and Passover. Yes, I realize that all the previously mentioned days are not always off, but there has been a concerted effort to make them teacher work days.

Since my elder one started school, we always had Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as days off.

MCPS can do what Loudoun County, VA does. There's the option to have a 9 week summer break vs a 10 week summer break. They get many days off during the school year & typically have more snow days too.

Passover occasionally falls late, but it is often so close to Spring Break that non-Jews don’t notice it.

Having Passover off is the right thing to do. Kids will be up late for Seders two nights in a row. Everyone can learn from the message of surviving government tyranny and seeking freedom.

MCPS excuses any student or teacher who takes a day off due to a religious holiday. There is no need for the entire county to observe religious holidays that do not impact a large number of students.

We used to have a threshold of 15% absenteeism (teachers + students) in order to put a religious holiday on the calendar. That threshold is why we have Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I don't even know if they'd meet the threshold currently, and Eid, Diwali, and Lunar New Year certainly would not. There is no need to extend the school year by having these days off - if we feel the need to give a nod to them or to have a teacher workday, make them half days, which count toward 180.

And please don't say I'm being insensitive - we cannot possibly honor every religious holiday that occurs in such a diverse county - all religious holidays are important to those who celebrate them, as they should be. But that's not the same as closing an enormous school system for holidays that a relatively small percentage of stakeholders celebrate.

This.

[Anonymous]

I think there are three built in snow days this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are three built in snow days this year.

No, just one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's because we've had light winters for the last several years so they just got used to not needing many snow days. I always thought that it was foolish to have anything less than 4 snow days baked into the calendar but that's purely my observation as a parent. Not sure what the insider reasons are.

I do think there was also the pressure to continue to recognize more non-Christian holidays (Diwali, Lunar New Year) in addition to MCPS's already recognized Jewish holidays. Also, the teachers' union strongly demanded more half days or non-instructional days to catch up on grading and/or PD.

So I think that squeezed out all of the snow days that used to be baked into the calendar.

The PP is correct. I have one who's a HS senior, and one in college. When they started MCPs, there were 4 days included. We typically had more snowfall then + no Lunar New Year, Diwali, Eid, and Passover. Yes, I realize that all the previously mentioned days are not always off, but there has been a concerted effort to make them teacher work days.

Since my elder one started school, we always had Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as days off.

MCPS can do what Loudoun County, VA does. There's the option to have a 9 week summer break vs a 10 week summer break. They get many days off during the school year & typically have more snow days too.

Passover occasionally falls late, but it is often so close to Spring Break that non-Jews don’t notice it.

Having Passover off is the right thing to do. Kids will be up late for Seders two nights in a row. Everyone can learn from the message of surviving government tyranny and seeking freedom.

MCPS excuses any student or teacher who takes a day off due to a religious holiday. There is no need for the entire county to observe religious holidays that do not impact a large number of students.

We used to have a threshold of 15% absenteeism (teachers + students) in order to put a religious holiday on the calendar. That threshold is why we have Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I don't even know if they'd meet the threshold currently, and Eid, Diwali, and Lunar New Year certainly would not. There is no need to extend the school year by having these days off - if we feel the need to give a nod to them or to have a teacher workday, make them half days, which count toward 180.

And please don't say I'm being insensitive - we cannot possibly honor every religious holiday that occurs in such a diverse county - all religious holidays are important to those who celebrate them, as they should be. But that's not the same as closing an enormous school system for holidays that a relatively small percentage of stakeholders celebrate.

They did do a survey maybe 2 or 3 years ago where they discovered that yes, they continue to meet the threshold and would not be able to staff schools on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur due to staff out and not enough subs to cover. And they do try to align the other holidays with teacher workdays to the extent possible.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. They should start school earlier in August so there is more wiggle room in winter. Grading days are definitely useful. I use them not just to grade but to explore new and engaging lessons and also to reflect upon how to do better with my most difficult students. PD days are useless and should be taken away. In my 10 years of teaching, I have not had one useful MCPS pd. The problem is they try to do a one size fits all pd across K-12. It ends up helping no one. Never once have I had a pd that relates to the specific subject I teach in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. They should start school earlier in August so there is more wiggle room in winter. Grading days are definitely useful. I use them not just to grade but to explore new and engaging lessons and also to reflect upon how to do better with my most difficult students. PD days are useless and should be taken away. In my 10 years of teaching, I have not had one useful MCPS pd. The problem is they try to do a one size fits all pd across K-12. It ends up helping no one. Never once have I had a pd that relates to the specific subject I teach in HS.

You need to tell the BOE and the County Council this. Every problem that ails the system, they claim can be solved with more PD.

[Anonymous]

Last year, one of the makeup days wasn’t used because it was Eid. In fact, none of the makeup days were used. Instead, we went later into June. This makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We used to have 184 days scheduled, with additional days at the end as snow days. Most years we only used one or two, and everyone wished school ended sooner (hated the 2days the following week pattern.) The couple of times we had huge storms, it was a state emergency and they waived making up extra days beyond the 4.

Then came Hogan and his mandate that schools start after Labor Day and end by 6/15. Some years it barely fit and end of quarter grading became half days, pd became half days. As part of that process they dropped extra days not mandated by law and got creative around where to put makeup days. After the assembly made a law giving start date decisions back to school systems and we were post pandemic, they never went back, partly because climate change has really switched weather patterns and partly because it’s less expensive to not open the buildings unnecessarily.

Hogan and his Eastern shore tourism priorities are long gone. Just start school a week earlier in August. It’s good for kids in AP classes to get that extra week in before May exams.

I agree, but unfortunately I doubt people in this county are willing to tolerate starting a little earlier in August. Did you hear how much people complained about starting one whole day earlier this year than last year? Now imagine if someone told them school had to start on-- *gasp*-- August 20th? The horror!

I don't see any evidence for that. Most parents in MCPS can't take off 9 weeks of holidays from their jobs. Maybe the summer camp lobby complains, and maybe the MCPS teachers complain, but not the parents.

Obviously, this board on DCUM is not a representative sampling of MCPS parents, but there are plenty of posters on here who complain about the notion of school starting earlier in August because they take their vacations at the end of summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We used to have 184 days scheduled, with additional days at the end as snow days. Most years we only used one or two, and everyone wished school ended sooner (hated the 2days the following week pattern.) The couple of times we had huge storms, it was a state emergency and they waived making up extra days beyond the 4.

Then came Hogan and his mandate that schools start after Labor Day and end by 6/15. Some years it barely fit and end of quarter grading became half days, pd became half days. As part of that process they dropped extra days not mandated by law and got creative around where to put makeup days. After the assembly made a law giving start date decisions back to school systems and we were post pandemic, they never went back, partly because climate change has really switched weather patterns and partly because it’s less expensive to not open the buildings unnecessarily.

Hogan and his Eastern shore tourism priorities are long gone. Just start school a week earlier in August. It’s good for kids in AP classes to get that extra week in before May exams.

I agree, but unfortunately I doubt people in this county are willing to tolerate starting a little earlier in August. Did you hear how much people complained about starting one whole day earlier this year than last year? Now imagine if someone told them school had to start on-- *gasp*-- August 20th? The horror!

Well they can either accept it and send their kids to school or move. You're never going to please everyone.

FWIW that last week is always terrible for camps anyway because all the college kids have gone back.