how do we get APS to rethink 13 snow days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The county offices, courthouse, and rec centers are all open tomorrow. Seems a delay would have made more sense.

Those aren’t places that children are compelled to be at if open and then have to navigate to via icy sidewalks, occluded bus stops, and buses on icy streets. They are places that nobody has to go (rec center) or that adults who can safely get themselves there or take PTO to avoid if they can’t. It’s not even close to comparing it to schools putting thousands of kids on icy sidewalks and roads and saying figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:But wait, APS... that's CRAZY. VA law says you need to have kids in school 5.5 hours per day x 18- days. 180 x 5.5 = 990 hours, the required number of hours.

APS has kids in school 6 hours 50 minutes. That's way longer than 5 hours 30 minutes.

You should have way more than just 13 extra days. What am I missing here?

The time in school requirement instructional time and doesn't include passing time, recess, lunch, etc. it's only instructional time.

When I was a kid we had used too many snow days so my VA district cut 1 minute from the passing time between every class to meet the requirement. But then we were all just 1 minute late to our next class because the hallways were crowded and we couldn't change classes in 2.5 minutes. Just stupid.

That 5.5 hours includes everything (passing time, recess) except lunch.

VAC20-132-150. Standard school year and school day.
A. The standard school year shall be 180 instructional days or 990 instructional hours. The standard school day, including passing time for class changes and excluding breaks for meals, shall average a minimum of 5-1/2 instructional hours for students in kindergarten through grade 12. Recess may be included in the calculation of required instructional hours for elementary school, provided that recess does not exceed 15% of the required instructional hours.

B. All students in kindergarten through grade 12 shall maintain a full day schedule of classes (5-1/2 hours), unless a waiver is granted in accordance with policies defined by the local school board.

So OK, lunch is what - 30 minutes? So the school day needs to be at least 6 hours long, but APS makes it 6 hours 50 minutes. So 50 minutes more than the law requires x180days

Right that's what the APEs screamed for. More time in school. I think they view school as child care, also they don't seem to be able to handle their own kids at home. Remember OPEN SCHOOLS NOOOOW?!

Public school is public. Taxpayer funded. To educate kids. We just had 2 weeks off. Calendar shows another half day in January and then another 4 day weekend at end of the month. Not APE and my kids don't need 8 more days off. They need to be in school.

Why do you hate being around your kids?

Not this poster, but it isn’t about getting away from your kids. These kids would benefit from more instruction, not less.

It really, really is. And they will “benefit from instruction” when there isn’t inclement weather. Unclench.

Some of you must have little kids. Older kids have activities outside of school they are missing that need to be rescheduled with prolonged closures and the instructional time ahead of immovable AP exams actually matters. It affects my life zero if a high schooler is home in my house. In fact I enjoy the time with them as they are usually quite busy. But it is also not a great for them to sit home because you don’t want 8 year old Sally to brave an ice patch and it doesn’t matter at all she misses a week of 3rd grade math.

Also it is okay that some adults hold down jobs where they need their younger kids to be occupied.

We have both.

Snow/inclement weather days where you have to work and your kids are off are part of parenting. If you don’t have a plan, and a backup plan, that’s on you and no one else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just went on a 3 mile walk around my neighborhood and it drastically varies street to street depending on sun exposure. I estimate that 50% of sidewalks and curbs were covered in snow and ice. Most streets were plowed but some tiny side streets were not. The 25 degree temps tonight are going to make it very hard to open up tomorrow morning. Those early start schools start at like 7:30!

I look forward to the temper tantrum that "hold them accountable" guy will have tomorrow!

Ditto. I’m popping the popcorn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The refreeze tonight is what's causing the closures tomorrow. Anyone who doesn't understand that is....?

Not very bright. Which, judging by the responses, includes at least 50% of DCUM Moms.

[Anonymous]

So we’re going to have school on Thursday, right?????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we’re going to have school on Thursday, right?????

I honestly don’t know- the wind chill tomorrow is 3 degrees with high winds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So we’re going to have school on Thursday, right?????

I honestly don’t know- the wind chill tomorrow is 3 degrees with high winds.

aka winter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if they're waiting to see how many teachers call out. Because when this happened in 2022, they said they were open and then had to walk it back.

Most APS teachers can’t afford to live in Arlington, so they live further out in places that are still digging out

I know, which is why I said that.

Totally- pay teachers more so they can actually afford to live here!

My kids are pumped. Core memories 😍

I’m assumed you don’t work and can cook for them, clean up from their being IN THE HOUSE for 3 days. My kids are bored with sledding and two old to build snowman.

What are your kids doing on day 3 stuck at home? We can’t take them anywhere because we both need to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if they're waiting to see how many teachers call out. Because when this happened in 2022, they said they were open and then had to walk it back.

Most APS teachers can’t afford to live in Arlington, so they live further out in places that are still digging out

I know, which is why I said that.

Totally- pay teachers more so they can actually afford to live here!

My kids are pumped. Core memories 😍

I’m assumed you don’t work and can cook for them, clean up from their being IN THE HOUSE for 3 days. My kids are bored with sledding and two old to build snowman.

What are your kids doing on day 3 stuck at home? We can’t take them anywhere because we both need to work.

Not that PP, but no such thing as too old to build a snowman. Did they get any games or toys for Christmas? Can they walk to a friend’s house? Read a book? Get ahead on schoolwork? Cook something simple on their own?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But wait, APS... that's CRAZY. VA law says you need to have kids in school 5.5 hours per day x 18- days. 180 x 5.5 = 990 hours, the required number of hours.

APS has kids in school 6 hours 50 minutes. That's way longer than 5 hours 30 minutes.

You should have way more than just 13 extra days. What am I missing here?

The time in school requirement instructional time and doesn't include passing time, recess, lunch, etc. it's only instructional time.

When I was a kid we had used too many snow days so my VA district cut 1 minute from the passing time between every class to meet the requirement. But then we were all just 1 minute late to our next class because the hallways were crowded and we couldn't change classes in 2.5 minutes. Just stupid.

That 5.5 hours includes everything (passing time, recess) except lunch.

VAC20-132-150. Standard school year and school day.
A. The standard school year shall be 180 instructional days or 990 instructional hours. The standard school day, including passing time for class changes and excluding breaks for meals, shall average a minimum of 5-1/2 instructional hours for students in kindergarten through grade 12. Recess may be included in the calculation of required instructional hours for elementary school, provided that recess does not exceed 15% of the required instructional hours.

B. All students in kindergarten through grade 12 shall maintain a full day schedule of classes (5-1/2 hours), unless a waiver is granted in accordance with policies defined by the local school board.

So OK, lunch is what - 30 minutes? So the school day needs to be at least 6 hours long, but APS makes it 6 hours 50 minutes. So 50 minutes more than the law requires x180days

Right that's what the APEs screamed for. More time in school. I think they view school as child care, also they don't seem to be able to handle their own kids at home. Remember OPEN SCHOOLS NOOOOW?!

Public school is public. Taxpayer funded. To educate kids. We just had 2 weeks off. Calendar shows another half day in January and then another 4 day weekend at end of the month. Not APE and my kids don't need 8 more days off. They need to be in school.

Why do you hate being around your kids?

Not this poster, but it isn’t about getting away from your kids. These kids would benefit from more instruction, not less.

It really, really is. And they will “benefit from instruction” when there isn’t inclement weather. Unclench.

Some of you must have little kids. Older kids have activities outside of school they are missing that need to be rescheduled with prolonged closures and the instructional time ahead of immovable AP exams actually matters. It affects my life zero if a high schooler is home in my house. In fact I enjoy the time with them as they are usually quite busy. But it is also not a great for them to sit home because you don’t want 8 year old Sally to brave an ice patch and it doesn’t matter at all she misses a week of 3rd grade math.

Also it is okay that some adults hold down jobs where they need their younger kids to be occupied.

We have both.

Snow/inclement weather days where you have to work and your kids are off are part of parenting. If you don’t have a plan, and a backup plan, that’s on you and no one else.

Unless you’re a teacher who works for APS but lives in Fairfax County, apparently. In that case, we just shut down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county offices, courthouse, and rec centers are all open tomorrow. Seems a delay would have made more sense.

Those aren’t places that children are compelled to be at if open and then have to navigate to via icy sidewalks, occluded bus stops, and buses on icy streets. They are places that nobody has to go (rec center) or that adults who can safely get themselves there or take PTO to avoid if they can’t. It’s not even close to comparing it to schools putting thousands of kids on icy sidewalks and roads and saying figure it out.

Ok- it’s winter. Ice is a fact of winter in the mid-Atlantic. We really need to get over it and learn how to deal with it like every state north of ours has managed to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wrong decision and other parts of the county said school bus routes are ready: https://x.com/ArlingtonDES/status/1876765871630110841?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Arlington Department of Environmental Services
@ArlingtonDES
Young people of Arlington: 99%+ of school bus routes are now considered passable. We apologize for the inconvenience. #ArlWX https://arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/PSCEM/Emergency-Preparedness/Weather/Snow-and-Ice/Snow-Removal-Phases

there's a difference between "passable" and ready for a school bus. Plus it's not just roads, it's parking lots and sidewalks and bus stops. Also they withdrew that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:w00t — it’s fun for my kid. I’m okay with it.

I am glad it is fun for your kid. For the student parents who have to be somewhere for work or work a service job where pay is not salaried, this impacts their real wages.

You need a plan for snow days, just like you need a plan for when your kid is sick. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county offices, courthouse, and rec centers are all open tomorrow. Seems a delay would have made more sense.

Those aren’t places that children are compelled to be at if open and then have to navigate to via icy sidewalks, occluded bus stops, and buses on icy streets. They are places that nobody has to go (rec center) or that adults who can safely get themselves there or take PTO to avoid if they can’t. It’s not even close to comparing it to schools putting thousands of kids on icy sidewalks and roads and saying figure it out.

Ok- it’s winter. Ice is a fact of winter in the mid-Atlantic. We really need to get over it and learn how to deal with it like every state north of ours has managed to do.

If you don't see the difference between Virginia and Northern states, I don't think we will be able to explain it to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if they're waiting to see how many teachers call out. Because when this happened in 2022, they said they were open and then had to walk it back.

Most APS teachers can’t afford to live in Arlington, so they live further out in places that are still digging out

I know, which is why I said that.

Totally- pay teachers more so they can actually afford to live here!

My kids are pumped. Core memories 😍

I’m assumed you don’t work and can cook for them, clean up from their being IN THE HOUSE for 3 days. My kids are bored with sledding and two old to build snowman.

What are your kids doing on day 3 stuck at home? We can’t take them anywhere because we both need to work.

If your kids are too old to build a snowman then surely they are old enough to clean up after themselves and do some simple meal prep. Time to learn thos life skills!