How DO we get the calendar changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What frustrates me the most is that SACC is now closed on these religious holidays. No one except the school district and the county treat these days as holidays. Everyone else has to go to work and thus needs childcare. People love to whine about how it's unfair that Christmas is a day off and thus their holiday should be one too. But last time I checked every company and agency/organization in this country gives off on Christmas. So the holidays are not the same no matter what you want to pretend.

Sorry but school isn’t childcare. You need to find childcare that’s available on Yom Kippur, Eid, Divali and Lunar New Year. That is all.

"Every company" is also not closed on Christmas, such a hasty generalization... YOUR company may, but definitely not all of them. Tons of people on here have mentioned the low income families being hurt the most by this. There are ton of low income hourly jobs that remain open on federal and mass celebrated religious holidays.

This is just another example of "I personally have to go to work on ___ day, so my children should have to go to school on ___ day".

What does BLS say?

https://www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/holiday-profiles.htm

Thats the most recent data i can find, but it shows 97% of people have a paid holiday that day.

You are incorrectly interpreting what it says.

It says, "Among civilian workers who received paid holidays, 97 percent received Christmas Day as a paid holiday"

Which is a very different statement than, "97% of people have a paid holiday on Christmas"

The BLS also quite clearly states that 23% (roughly 1 in 4) do not receive paid holidays.

Fairfax County has an estimated population of 1.16-1.19 million people. According to the Fairfax County Gov website, 617,000 - 636,000 people are employed. Only roughly 80,000 of the 600,000+ are Federal Employees. If we take the BLS statistic/national average of 23% of the workforce not receiving paid holidays, that means 140,000 + people in Fairfax County alone do not get Christmas as a paid holiday.

If you want to break it down even further, FCPS has 183,000 students, so on the LOW end that means 183,000 parents. On a 1 to 1 student/parent population alone, at 23%, that's over 40,000 FCPS parents who do not receive Christmas as a paid holiday.

Just because YOU have Christmas off, does not mean everyone does.

[Anonymous]

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

[Anonymous]

Let's hear it for Mr. Dunne. He is at least speaking up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

That is a nice, comprehensive overview. I'm not as concerned about the calendar as most (longer summers are worse than random days off), but I do understand the opposition to it.

Veteran's Day and Indigenous Day are the low-hanging fruit and I expect that this change will pass the Board. However, that doesn't address the religous/cultural holidays. They simply can't go back to a world in which Good Friday and Easter Monday are the only holidays. I'm not sure what the realistic option is here.

Since 2022, FCPS has observed up to 9 cultural and religious holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Orthodox Good Friday, and Eid Al-Adha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

That is a nice, comprehensive overview. I'm not as concerned about the calendar as most (longer summers are worse than random days off), but I do understand the opposition to it.

Veteran's Day and Indigenous Day are the low-hanging fruit and I expect that this change will pass the Board. However, that doesn't address the religous/cultural holidays. They simply can't go back to a world in which Good Friday and Easter Monday are the only holidays. I'm not sure what the realistic option is here.

Since 2022, FCPS has observed up to 9 cultural and religious holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Orthodox Good Friday, and Eid Al-Adha.

These ones should not be holidays. And I say that as a Catholic who does celebrate Good Friday (church and dinner is at night).

Lunar New Year is not religious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

Hallelujah! Maybe someone is listening after all. Really appreciate the data and analysis.

[Anonymous]

PP again. It's too much. This year's school calendar is the most days off, the longest school year, etc. The pendulum has swung too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

I definitely think this year's calendar was too disjointed, and I was also under the understanding that starting two weeks before Labor Day would result in an earlier end date than we currently have, but he writes, "My immediate focus is next year's calendar, which has not yet been approved by the School Board as required by state law". Didn't the board approve three consecutive years' calendars a year ago?

[Anonymous]

This calendar has been awful. Thank god for this man!!! Make him speak louder.

[Anonymous]

Shorten winter break!!!
Remove religious holidays that aren't federal holidays.
Cut some federal holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What frustrates me the most is that SACC is now closed on these religious holidays. No one except the school district and the county treat these days as holidays. Everyone else has to go to work and thus needs childcare. People love to whine about how it's unfair that Christmas is a day off and thus their holiday should be one too. But last time I checked every company and agency/organization in this country gives off on Christmas. So the holidays are not the same no matter what you want to pretend.

Sorry but school isn’t childcare. You need to find childcare that’s available on Yom Kippur, Eid, Divali and Lunar New Year. That is all.

SACC is literally School Aged Child Care.

SACC is also literally described as "Before School, After School, and during Summer, Winter, and Spring holiday sessions" per the FCPS website. No where does it say it is for federal holidays, religious holidays, etc. That is what private childcare is for.

SACC offers full day coverage for TW/SP/SD. Previously, they were only closed on Federal/County holidays and offered full day coverage for most religious observances. Which made sense as the service is run through Fairfax County, not FCPS. They removed 3 religious observances this year, which suspiciously aligned with the extra 3 hour early release they now have to cover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

I’m his constituent in Mt. Vernon district and I wrote to him specifically to encourage dropping the 3 hour early release days for elementary. They really create so much chaos and, as he mentioned, they cost money as they are running extra bus routes on those days. I don’t know if you all noticed, but he also said they are considering not letting kids stay at school on those days next year. They just need to be done away with for good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

I’m his constituent in Mt. Vernon district and I wrote to him specifically to encourage dropping the 3 hour early release days for elementary. They really create so much chaos and, as he mentioned, they cost money as they are running extra bus routes on those days. I don’t know if you all noticed, but he also said they are considering not letting kids stay at school on those days next year. They just need to be done away with for good.

I’m in his district as well and did the same! He wrote me this afternoon to make sure I saw his email. Really appreciate his diligence.

[Anonymous]

I’m happy with the language around early releases.

I’m less enthusiastic about 80% 5 day weeks and longer summers. Historic data shows that even 20 years ago, FCPS was only hitting 70% 5 day weeks. I want more consistency in the calendar, of course, but I actually like the 2026-27 calendar as is. It offers consistent 4-5 day weeks and the days off are anchored to weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/40fecaa

This guy is trying!!

Isn’t this the same guy who hopped on the Hayfield Football scandal when it was the hot topic? He demanded accountability, a full external report, and full transparency at the conclusion of the investigation… Made it his sole purpose for the few months it was headline news.

That report has been buried, withheld from the public, and absolutely no one has been held accountable.

But best believe Dunne was championing it when it was the topic to champion.

As much as I too hate the calendar, unfortunately, I’d expect more of the same this time around from this guy. Trying to put his face on the hottest topic at hand and then slowly fading away as people move on.