School Calendar 2023-2024

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The calendar is basically what we have now but they majorly screwed up with the teacher workdays. The "fixed" the calendar at the expense of the teachers. This is what they always do. We bear the burden of all their bad decisions.

Teachers don't need 3 or 4 workdays at the end of the year. There's nothing to do. I need the work days DURING the school year. You know...when I have work to do. We can't use those work days for planning for next year b/c a lot of us don't know what we're teaching next year. We can't use them for our online trainings (I think the estimate is that it's about two days worth of watching videos for the yearly mandatory trainings) because they don't count for next year unless done after July 1. We can't use them to grade papers, write IEPs, write narratives, write goals, update gradebooks, mark progress, etc because...we have no students at that point and the year is over. All of that's been done already. So the only thing left is for us to sit in more useless PD that no one asked for or needs. We need unencumbered work time DURING the school year. Period. And the school board is oblivious to that because most of them have never taught a day in their lives.

This relentless crusade for more 5 days weeks is exactly what another poster said...a direct response to the addition of the religious holidays. The SB needs to man up and just call a tell these parents tough crap. The religious days were added. It is was it is. And the work days DURING the year are needed as well. They should have balanced those out as best they could while not short changing either. But instead, we get this mess. The fact that there were so many no votes + reluctant yeses should have been clue #1 that there was still work to be done.

I agree. They are always speaking of supporting teachers, but giving those days at the end doesn't help grading during the year. But honestly, no teacher will work all those days at the end.

I think those PW days are essentially comp time days for what teachers will need to do on their own time during the year.

PPs are right: SB prioritized adding religious holidays. Maybe teachers can use the religious holidays to get their work done???

+1
And Megan was suggesting combining more TWDs with the holidays to address this. But if you are a teacher who does not celebrate the holiday you have off why not use just it for the grading / prep you need to do?

Because that's the equivalent of telling me to just "work on a saturday". I mean, yes, I will absolutely use that time to get work done because otherwise it doesn't get done, just like every weekend I grade for hours (and I actually took a sub day, today, using my own personal leave...to catch up on grading).

We are contracted to work 195 days. Saying "just work on the religious days" makes it 210 days or whatever. We aren't paid for that. If you want to extend the contract to make those work days, then staff deserves to be compensated since the expectation is they are working more.

Be glad you don’t have lesson plan and move on. I’m saying this as a Jew and with a spouse as a teacher.

Be glad I don't have lesson plan?

I don't understand.

I did have some typos there. But I meant be glad you don’t have to lesson plan for a sub if the religious holiday is a teacher workday. I’m a Jewish former teacher and my husband is a Jewish current teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The calendar is basically what we have now but they majorly screwed up with the teacher workdays. The "fixed" the calendar at the expense of the teachers. This is what they always do. We bear the burden of all their bad decisions.

Teachers don't need 3 or 4 workdays at the end of the year. There's nothing to do. I need the work days DURING the school year. You know...when I have work to do. We can't use those work days for planning for next year b/c a lot of us don't know what we're teaching next year. We can't use them for our online trainings (I think the estimate is that it's about two days worth of watching videos for the yearly mandatory trainings) because they don't count for next year unless done after July 1. We can't use them to grade papers, write IEPs, write narratives, write goals, update gradebooks, mark progress, etc because...we have no students at that point and the year is over. All of that's been done already. So the only thing left is for us to sit in more useless PD that no one asked for or needs. We need unencumbered work time DURING the school year. Period. And the school board is oblivious to that because most of them have never taught a day in their lives.

This relentless crusade for more 5 days weeks is exactly what another poster said...a direct response to the addition of the religious holidays. The SB needs to man up and just call a tell these parents tough crap. The religious days were added. It is was it is. And the work days DURING the year are needed as well. They should have balanced those out as best they could while not short changing either. But instead, we get this mess. The fact that there were so many no votes + reluctant yeses should have been clue #1 that there was still work to be done.

I agree. They are always speaking of supporting teachers, but giving those days at the end doesn't help grading during the year. But honestly, no teacher will work all those days at the end.

I think those PW days are essentially comp time days for what teachers will need to do on their own time during the year.

PPs are right: SB prioritized adding religious holidays. Maybe teachers can use the religious holidays to get their work done???

+1
And Megan was suggesting combining more TWDs with the holidays to address this. But if you are a teacher who does not celebrate the holiday you have off why not use just it for the grading / prep you need to do?

Because that's the equivalent of telling me to just "work on a saturday". I mean, yes, I will absolutely use that time to get work done because otherwise it doesn't get done, just like every weekend I grade for hours (and I actually took a sub day, today, using my own personal leave...to catch up on grading).

We are contracted to work 195 days. Saying "just work on the religious days" makes it 210 days or whatever. We aren't paid for that. If you want to extend the contract to make those work days, then staff deserves to be compensated since the expectation is they are working more.

Be glad you don’t have lesson plan and move on. I’m saying this as a Jew and with a spouse as a teacher.

Be glad I don't have lesson plan?

I don't understand.

I did have some typos there. But I meant be glad you don’t have to lesson plan for a sub if the religious holiday is a teacher workday. I’m a Jewish former teacher and my husband is a Jewish current teacher.

I'm totally fine with religious holidays being teacher work days. I'm not fine with making them full holidays for all and then expecting teachers to work (uncompensated) if they aren't whatever religion is that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The calendar is basically what we have now but they majorly screwed up with the teacher workdays. The "fixed" the calendar at the expense of the teachers. This is what they always do. We bear the burden of all their bad decisions.

Teachers don't need 3 or 4 workdays at the end of the year. There's nothing to do. I need the work days DURING the school year. You know...when I have work to do. We can't use those work days for planning for next year b/c a lot of us don't know what we're teaching next year. We can't use them for our online trainings (I think the estimate is that it's about two days worth of watching videos for the yearly mandatory trainings) because they don't count for next year unless done after July 1. We can't use them to grade papers, write IEPs, write narratives, write goals, update gradebooks, mark progress, etc because...we have no students at that point and the year is over. All of that's been done already. So the only thing left is for us to sit in more useless PD that no one asked for or needs. We need unencumbered work time DURING the school year. Period. And the school board is oblivious to that because most of them have never taught a day in their lives.

This relentless crusade for more 5 days weeks is exactly what another poster said...a direct response to the addition of the religious holidays. The SB needs to man up and just call a tell these parents tough crap. The religious days were added. It is was it is. And the work days DURING the year are needed as well. They should have balanced those out as best they could while not short changing either. But instead, we get this mess. The fact that there were so many no votes + reluctant yeses should have been clue #1 that there was still work to be done.

I agree. They are always speaking of supporting teachers, but giving those days at the end doesn't help grading during the year. But honestly, no teacher will work all those days at the end.

I think those PW days are essentially comp time days for what teachers will need to do on their own time during the year.

PPs are right: SB prioritized adding religious holidays. Maybe teachers can use the religious holidays to get their work done???

+1
And Megan was suggesting combining more TWDs with the holidays to address this. But if you are a teacher who does not celebrate the holiday you have off why not use just it for the grading / prep you need to do?

It was at this point, I think, Cohen got offended (again) that teachers would have to choose between observing their holy day and doing professional development work. 🤷🏻‍♀️

That was Meren. The solution is 2 floating days so those that need the day OFF can take it still. But the vast majority of the staff do not need off on the religious holidays and it makes not sense to pretend they are all celebrating that day just because a small percentage are.

But this makes too much sense, so why would they do it

In Moco, Diwali has been Professional Day the past few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The calendar is basically what we have now but they majorly screwed up with the teacher workdays. The "fixed" the calendar at the expense of the teachers. This is what they always do. We bear the burden of all their bad decisions.

Teachers don't need 3 or 4 workdays at the end of the year. There's nothing to do. I need the work days DURING the school year. You know...when I have work to do. We can't use those work days for planning for next year b/c a lot of us don't know what we're teaching next year. We can't use them for our online trainings (I think the estimate is that it's about two days worth of watching videos for the yearly mandatory trainings) because they don't count for next year unless done after July 1. We can't use them to grade papers, write IEPs, write narratives, write goals, update gradebooks, mark progress, etc because...we have no students at that point and the year is over. All of that's been done already. So the only thing left is for us to sit in more useless PD that no one asked for or needs. We need unencumbered work time DURING the school year. Period. And the school board is oblivious to that because most of them have never taught a day in their lives.

This relentless crusade for more 5 days weeks is exactly what another poster said...a direct response to the addition of the religious holidays. The SB needs to man up and just call a tell these parents tough crap. The religious days were added. It is was it is. And the work days DURING the year are needed as well. They should have balanced those out as best they could while not short changing either. But instead, we get this mess. The fact that there were so many no votes + reluctant yeses should have been clue #1 that there was still work to be done.

I agree. They are always speaking of supporting teachers, but giving those days at the end doesn't help grading during the year. But honestly, no teacher will work all those days at the end.

I think those PW days are essentially comp time days for what teachers will need to do on their own time during the year.

PPs are right: SB prioritized adding religious holidays. Maybe teachers can use the religious holidays to get their work done???

+1
And Megan was suggesting combining more TWDs with the holidays to address this. But if you are a teacher who does not celebrate the holiday you have off why not use just it for the grading / prep you need to do?

Because that's the equivalent of telling me to just "work on a saturday". I mean, yes, I will absolutely use that time to get work done because otherwise it doesn't get done, just like every weekend I grade for hours (and I actually took a sub day, today, using my own personal leave...to catch up on grading).

We are contracted to work 195 days. Saying "just work on the religious days" makes it 210 days or whatever. We aren't paid for that. If you want to extend the contract to make those work days, then staff deserves to be compensated since the expectation is they are working more.

Be glad you don’t have lesson plan and move on. I’m saying this as a Jew and with a spouse as a teacher.

Be glad I don't have lesson plan?

I don't understand.

I did have some typos there. But I meant be glad you don’t have to lesson plan for a sub if the religious holiday is a teacher workday. I’m a Jewish former teacher and my husband is a Jewish current teacher.

I'm totally fine with religious holidays being teacher work days. I'm not fine with making them full holidays for all and then expecting teachers to work (uncompensated) if they aren't whatever religion is that day.

Oh yeah that was a weird suggestion.

[Anonymous]

Why no email from FCPS? There is total confusion among parents about what was approved!

[Anonymous]

So, it's February 10. I don't have time to read through these pages and Google has been of limited help. Where is the calendar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why no email from FCPS? There is total confusion among parents about what was approved!

These emails always come in around 4-5pm.

[Anonymous]

The approved 2025-26 calendar is a mess. Very limited number of five day weeks and the kids are not done until late June.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why no email from FCPS? There is total confusion among parents about what was approved!

These emails always come in around 4-5pm.

Staff just got the email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why no email from FCPS? There is total confusion among parents about what was approved!

These emails always come in around 4-5pm.

Staff just got the email.

https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/CNW29Q012041/$file/2023-2024-standard-school-year-calendar-option-BLUE-DRAFT-VERSION-2-AMENDED.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The calendar is basically what we have now but they majorly screwed up with the teacher workdays. The "fixed" the calendar at the expense of the teachers. This is what they always do. We bear the burden of all their bad decisions.

Teachers don't need 3 or 4 workdays at the end of the year. There's nothing to do. I need the work days DURING the school year. You know...when I have work to do. We can't use those work days for planning for next year b/c a lot of us don't know what we're teaching next year. We can't use them for our online trainings (I think the estimate is that it's about two days worth of watching videos for the yearly mandatory trainings) because they don't count for next year unless done after July 1. We can't use them to grade papers, write IEPs, write narratives, write goals, update gradebooks, mark progress, etc because...we have no students at that point and the year is over. All of that's been done already. So the only thing left is for us to sit in more useless PD that no one asked for or needs. We need unencumbered work time DURING the school year. Period. And the school board is oblivious to that because most of them have never taught a day in their lives.

This relentless crusade for more 5 days weeks is exactly what another poster said...a direct response to the addition of the religious holidays. The SB needs to man up and just call a tell these parents tough crap. The religious days were added. It is was it is. And the work days DURING the year are needed as well. They should have balanced those out as best they could while not short changing either. But instead, we get this mess. The fact that there were so many no votes + reluctant yeses should have been clue #1 that there was still work to be done.

I agree. They are always speaking of supporting teachers, but giving those days at the end doesn't help grading during the year. But honestly, no teacher will work all those days at the end.

I think those PW days are essentially comp time days for what teachers will need to do on their own time during the year.

PPs are right: SB prioritized adding religious holidays. Maybe teachers can use the religious holidays to get their work done???

+1
And Megan was suggesting combining more TWDs with the holidays to address this. But if you are a teacher who does not celebrate the holiday you have off why not use just it for the grading / prep you need to do?

Because that's the equivalent of telling me to just "work on a saturday". I mean, yes, I will absolutely use that time to get work done because otherwise it doesn't get done, just like every weekend I grade for hours (and I actually took a sub day, today, using my own personal leave...to catch up on grading).

We are contracted to work 195 days. Saying "just work on the religious days" makes it 210 days or whatever. We aren't paid for that. If you want to extend the contract to make those work days, then staff deserves to be compensated since the expectation is they are working more.

Be glad you don’t have lesson plan and move on. I’m saying this as a Jew and with a spouse as a teacher.

Be glad I don't have lesson plan?

I don't understand.

I did have some typos there. But I meant be glad you don’t have to lesson plan for a sub if the religious holiday is a teacher workday. I’m a Jewish former teacher and my husband is a Jewish current teacher.

I'm totally fine with religious holidays being teacher work days. I'm not fine with making them full holidays for all and then expecting teachers to work (uncompensated) if they aren't whatever religion is that day.

Oh yeah that was a weird suggestion.

No one was saying you'd be "uncompensated" for your work. We were just saying that since they placed the PW days at the end of the year, and the teachers said they don't need them at the end of the year b/c there is nothing to do, from a practical standpoint, the efficient and fair answer is that the teacher uses the days when s/he doesn't have to be with kids in the classroom (i.e. religious holidays) to get the necessary tasks done, and then s/he would get "paid" the comp time at the end of the year for the PW days. We were assuming that the teacher wouldn't actually work on the PW days at the end of the year b/c s/he ALREADY put in the work time when it was needed DURING the year (on the religious holidays). No one is being asked (under this scenario) to work for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why no email from FCPS? There is total confusion among parents about what was approved!

They weren't sure what they actually approved. They need 24 hrs to work backwards and put a calendar together after approving something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why no email from FCPS? There is total confusion among parents about what was approved!

They weren't sure what they actually approved. They need 24 hrs to work backwards and put a calendar together after approving something.

So we'll probably get it in April

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The calendar is basically what we have now but they majorly screwed up with the teacher workdays. The "fixed" the calendar at the expense of the teachers. This is what they always do. We bear the burden of all their bad decisions.

Teachers don't need 3 or 4 workdays at the end of the year. There's nothing to do. I need the work days DURING the school year. You know...when I have work to do. We can't use those work days for planning for next year b/c a lot of us don't know what we're teaching next year. We can't use them for our online trainings (I think the estimate is that it's about two days worth of watching videos for the yearly mandatory trainings) because they don't count for next year unless done after July 1. We can't use them to grade papers, write IEPs, write narratives, write goals, update gradebooks, mark progress, etc because...we have no students at that point and the year is over. All of that's been done already. So the only thing left is for us to sit in more useless PD that no one asked for or needs. We need unencumbered work time DURING the school year. Period. And the school board is oblivious to that because most of them have never taught a day in their lives.

This relentless crusade for more 5 days weeks is exactly what another poster said...a direct response to the addition of the religious holidays. The SB needs to man up and just call a tell these parents tough crap. The religious days were added. It is was it is. And the work days DURING the year are needed as well. They should have balanced those out as best they could while not short changing either. But instead, we get this mess. The fact that there were so many no votes + reluctant yeses should have been clue #1 that there was still work to be done.

I agree. They are always speaking of supporting teachers, but giving those days at the end doesn't help grading during the year. But honestly, no teacher will work all those days at the end.

I think those PW days are essentially comp time days for what teachers will need to do on their own time during the year.

PPs are right: SB prioritized adding religious holidays. Maybe teachers can use the religious holidays to get their work done???

+1
And Megan was suggesting combining more TWDs with the holidays to address this. But if you are a teacher who does not celebrate the holiday you have off why not use just it for the grading / prep you need to do?

Because that's the equivalent of telling me to just "work on a saturday". I mean, yes, I will absolutely use that time to get work done because otherwise it doesn't get done, just like every weekend I grade for hours (and I actually took a sub day, today, using my own personal leave...to catch up on grading).

We are contracted to work 195 days. Saying "just work on the religious days" makes it 210 days or whatever. We aren't paid for that. If you want to extend the contract to make those work days, then staff deserves to be compensated since the expectation is they are working more.

Be glad you don’t have lesson plan and move on. I’m saying this as a Jew and with a spouse as a teacher.

Be glad I don't have lesson plan?

I don't understand.

I did have some typos there. But I meant be glad you don’t have to lesson plan for a sub if the religious holiday is a teacher workday. I’m a Jewish former teacher and my husband is a Jewish current teacher.

I'm totally fine with religious holidays being teacher work days. I'm not fine with making them full holidays for all and then expecting teachers to work (uncompensated) if they aren't whatever religion is that day.

Oh yeah that was a weird suggestion.

No one was saying you'd be "uncompensated" for your work. We were just saying that since they placed the PW days at the end of the year, and the teachers said they don't need them at the end of the year b/c there is nothing to do, from a practical standpoint, the efficient and fair answer is that the teacher uses the days when s/he doesn't have to be with kids in the classroom (i.e. religious holidays) to get the necessary tasks done, and then s/he would get "paid" the comp time at the end of the year for the PW days. We were assuming that the teacher wouldn't actually work on the PW days at the end of the year b/c s/he ALREADY put in the work time when it was needed DURING the year (on the religious holidays). No one is being asked (under this scenario) to work for free.

Ah I see - like Flex Time or comp time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why no email from FCPS? There is total confusion among parents about what was approved!

These emails always come in around 4-5pm.

Staff just got the email.

So did the parents. Approved 23-24 calendar is here:

https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/CNW29Q012041/$file/2023-2024-standard-school-year-calendar-option-BLUE-DRAFT-VERSION-2-AMENDED.pdf