Primarily for northern VA counties: Fix spring break to a stationary week!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to convince Fairfax to do it. Arlington will follow whatever Fairfax does, and I'm sure most of the other counties will too

Fairfax DID do it last year (2022) and there was a high revolt because the other counties didn’t follow and teachers had different breaks from their own kids. FCPS came right back to the standard Easter break the following year. So your theory is wrong.

It's not wrong. Fairfax has been setting its calendar WAAAAY late in the last few years, after all the other counties, so it wasn't possible in that instance bc the other counties had already put out their calendars (which were their best guesses on what Fairfax would do!). It was a blindside.

If FFx got its act together and put forth a calendar more than 4 months before the start of school you will absolutely see the other counties fall in line. Arlington in its calendar discussions this spring talked about how that different spring break week was terrible and they don't want to go through that again.

Well, LCPS has already set calendars for the next 3 school years through June 2026, and all of the spring breaks are the week before Easter. So if FCPS wants to align with LCPS, it will need to start with school year 2026-2027 to unattach Spring Break from Easter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, we have a floating date for Eid now, so not sure why we can’t keep the floating date for the holiday that the majority of kids in APS/FCCPS/LCPS/FCPS/ACPS celebrate?

Western Easter is on a Sunday, so no matter when Spring Break is, kids will have it off. Kids who celebrate Orthodox Easter will have that off, too, because, again, it's on a Sunday.

"Easter Monday" is not an actual religious holiday, so we can stop worrying about that.

Why is this so important to you? We’re also not going to unattach Winter Break from Christmas, even when Christmas itself falls on a weekend. Move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what it is worth, parents with multiple kids, either in different privates or a private/public combination (e.g., preschool kid plus a 2nd grade kid in public), have it worse, because the different schools will have different teacher work days, holidays, etc. This can make it very difficult if both parents work or for single parents - just not enough vacation days to cover all the gaps.

Well that’s your choice to place them in different private schools. This forum is for VA public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop having spring break the week before Easter every year!
Since Easter moves that means the break isn't the same week year to year.
These are PUBLIC schools not Christian schools!
Spring break is scheduled very early next year as a result and most of these schools will still be in the 3rd quarter after spring break! Spring break should be fixed to a specific week (ex 1st full week of April, 2nd full week of April) depending on how many weeks are left in the school year (9 or 10) and not when Easter falls! If it's because of Good Friday then squeezing in one day shouldn't be that hard. I understand it's important for nearby counties to align (because teachers may live in one with their children and teach in another) so they should align to a fixed week every year and not have the break in late March one year and the 3rd week of April another year etc. The break should be no earlier then the end of the 3rd quarter.

The nation is predominantly Christian. It’s fine to tie it to Easter and Good Friday. I mean, public schools accommodate all the holidays observed by other faiths now, despite them being observed by much smaller numbers of students and staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop having spring break the week before Easter every year!
Since Easter moves that means the break isn't the same week year to year.
These are PUBLIC schools not Christian schools!
Spring break is scheduled very early next year as a result and most of these schools will still be in the 3rd quarter after spring break! Spring break should be fixed to a specific week (ex 1st full week of April, 2nd full week of April) depending on how many weeks are left in the school year (9 or 10) and not when Easter falls! If it's because of Good Friday then squeezing in one day shouldn't be that hard. I understand it's important for nearby counties to align (because teachers may live in one with their children and teach in another) so they should align to a fixed week every year and not have the break in late March one year and the 3rd week of April another year etc. The break should be no earlier then the end of the 3rd quarter.

The nation is predominantly Christian. It’s fine to tie it to Easter and Good Friday. I mean, public schools accommodate all the holidays observed by other faiths now, despite them being observed by much smaller numbers of students and staff.

No one is going to Turks to celebrate Jesus rising indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop having spring break the week before Easter every year!
Since Easter moves that means the break isn't the same week year to year.
These are PUBLIC schools not Christian schools!
Spring break is scheduled very early next year as a result and most of these schools will still be in the 3rd quarter after spring break! Spring break should be fixed to a specific week (ex 1st full week of April, 2nd full week of April) depending on how many weeks are left in the school year (9 or 10) and not when Easter falls! If it's because of Good Friday then squeezing in one day shouldn't be that hard. I understand it's important for nearby counties to align (because teachers may live in one with their children and teach in another) so they should align to a fixed week every year and not have the break in late March one year and the 3rd week of April another year etc. The break should be no earlier then the end of the 3rd quarter.

The nation is predominantly Christian. It’s fine to tie it to Easter and Good Friday. I mean, public schools accommodate all the holidays observed by other faiths now, despite them being observed by much smaller numbers of students and staff.

If you are in a Catholic school or other Christian school it would be expected to have the break at Easter and even then it would be Good Friday (maybe Thursday) and the following week. There is something called separation of church (but referencing all religions) and state which means no PUBLIC school system should be aligning break based 1 holiday unless many students, teachers and other staff would be celebrating holidays that entire week. Since that is not the case (even some Catholic schools are open the day before Good Friday) just close on Good Friday and have spring break in the 2nd full week of April!
Since some people may have already planned for 2024 and the week off in 2025 is coincidently at the right time make the change for 2026. NOBODY has made plans for 3 years from now and only LC (and FC whose not on this forum) have made 25-26 calendars and can easily move spring break to April 13-17, 2026.

[Anonymous]

No. Bad idea, Op. Then even more holidays would have to be added into the calendar. People would need Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday off in addition to a different spring break week. Many people travel to grandma’s house for dinner on Easter Sunday and need Easter Monday to drive back. This would just add to the list of holidays that is already elongated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Bad idea, Op. Then even more holidays would have to be added into the calendar. People would need Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday off in addition to a different spring break week. Many people travel to grandma’s house for dinner on Easter Sunday and need Easter Monday to drive back. This would just add to the list of holidays that is already elongated.

They don't get Easter Monday off in LC or AC. PW had it this year but not next year (opposite is true on FC).
Easter Monday 2024 is April 1
https://www.lcps.org/Page/247996
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-24-Calendar.pdf
https://www.pwcs.edu/userfiles/servers/server_340140/file/about-us/2023-24_school_year_month-at-a-glance_calendar.pdf

Arlington even initially had it off on all options then took it away.
With a holiday (Eid) on Wednesday April 10, they could have chosen the 2nd week of April (8-12) without needing to close an extra day although this luxury would only be a one year thing. https://www.apsva.us/engage/development-of-the-2023-24-school-year-calendar/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, we have a floating date for Eid now, so not sure why we can’t keep the floating date for the holiday that the majority of kids in APS/FCCPS/LCPS/FCPS/ACPS celebrate?

Western Easter is on a Sunday, so no matter when Spring Break is, kids will have it off. Kids who celebrate Orthodox Easter will have that off, too, because, again, it's on a Sunday.

"Easter Monday" is not an actual religious holiday, so we can stop worrying about that.

Why is this so important to you? We’re also not going to unattach Winter Break from Christmas, even when Christmas itself falls on a weekend. Move on.

Christmas is the only religious holiday that is stationary (same calendar day) every year so that doesn't cause any issues, spring break is the last major break of the school year and is different for various places unlike winter break so avoiding crowds and higher prices should be doable although its understandable if it sometimes NOT EVERY YEAR happens to be near Easter by coincidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to convince Fairfax to do it. Arlington will follow whatever Fairfax does, and I'm sure most of the other counties will too

Fairfax DID do it last year (2022) and there was a high revolt because the other counties didn’t follow and teachers had different breaks from their own kids. FCPS came right back to the standard Easter break the following year. So your theory is wrong.

It's not wrong. Fairfax has been setting its calendar WAAAAY late in the last few years, after all the other counties, so it wasn't possible in that instance bc the other counties had already put out their calendars (which were their best guesses on what Fairfax would do!). It was a blindside.

If FFx got its act together and put forth a calendar more than 4 months before the start of school you will absolutely see the other counties fall in line. Arlington in its calendar discussions this spring talked about how that different spring break week was terrible and they don't want to go through that again.

Well, LCPS has already set calendars for the next 3 school years through June 2026, and all of the spring breaks are the week before Easter. So if FCPS wants to align with LCPS, it will need to start with school year 2026-2027 to unattach Spring Break from Easter.

Nobody has made plans for 2026 so spring break can easily be moved 2 weeks later but 2027 is even earlier then 2024 so it should not be attached either. It is going to be even rougher next year then this year and maybe worse then 2021 too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's completely fine to align Spring Break with Easter. This is a predominantly Christian nation, so as a practical matter it makes sense to give a holiday when large numbers of people are likely to be off.

I mean, for Pete's sake, they now cancel school for Jewish, Muslim and Hindu holidays, and those are miniscule populations, except in certain clusters where there are higher concentrations of those populations.

Wow, WTF

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's completely fine to align Spring Break with Easter. This is a predominantly Christian nation, so as a practical matter it makes sense to give a holiday when large numbers of people are likely to be off.

I mean, for Pete's sake, they now cancel school for Jewish, Muslim and Hindu holidays, and those are miniscule populations, except in certain clusters where there are higher concentrations of those populations.

Wow, WTF

They don't move an entire week off though for those holidays it's only the crazy notion to have spring break leading up to Easter that some counties in NoVA (and apparently MD) practice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to convince Fairfax to do it. Arlington will follow whatever Fairfax does, and I'm sure most of the other counties will too

Fairfax DID do it last year (2022) and there was a high revolt because the other counties didn’t follow and teachers had different breaks from their own kids. FCPS came right back to the standard Easter break the following year. So your theory is wrong.

I think after that happened, the surrounding counties have realized that was a big mistake and are trying to coordinate. That will not happen again.

They clearly didn't since all of the school districts put Spring Break and Easter together before Fairfax finalized that painful calendar process.

Fairfax did it right, got no backup from the other districts, and had to relent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to convince Fairfax to do it. Arlington will follow whatever Fairfax does, and I'm sure most of the other counties will too

Fairfax DID do it last year (2022) and there was a high revolt because the other counties didn’t follow and teachers had different breaks from their own kids. FCPS came right back to the standard Easter break the following year. So your theory is wrong.

I think after that happened, the surrounding counties have realized that was a big mistake and are trying to coordinate. That will not happen again.

They clearly didn't since all of the school districts put Spring Break and Easter together before Fairfax finalized that painful calendar process.

Fairfax did it right, got no backup from the other districts, and had to relent.

Yeah, you don’t get backup when you start your process after everyone else finishes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's completely fine to align Spring Break with Easter. This is a predominantly Christian nation, so as a practical matter it makes sense to give a holiday when large numbers of people are likely to be off.

I mean, for Pete's sake, they now cancel school for Jewish, Muslim and Hindu holidays, and those are miniscule populations, except in certain clusters where there are higher concentrations of those populations.

Wow, WTF

They don't move an entire week off though for those holidays it's only the crazy notion to have spring break leading up to Easter that some counties in NoVA (and apparently MD) practice!

So what’s the problem? Are you upset that other holidays don’t have a long break attached, or you want a different spring break so you can ski or go to Disney off peak? GTFO.