FCPS Closings/Who to contact about this issue/What can we do as parents to solve this problem

[Anonymous]

1. FCPS -- save money by reducing the people needed to make the decision to close the schools. Just follow MCPS! Whatever they do, we do. They seem to be getting it right. If it turns out the call is wrong -- oh well, MCPS (another big school) will share the heat.
2. THERE AREN'T 13 "BUILT IN" SNOW DAYS. They "built in" 10 of those days by using an accounting trick. They are now counting an extra 20min. per day as instructional time just b/c kids are walking to or from the buses. You and I both know this is NOT instructional time. It's akin to lunch and recess (which the state says cannot be counted). The state wasn't smart enough to foretell that FCPS would try to count walking to and from the bus as instructional time -- so they didn't exclude that. In a nutshell, FCPS is no longer giving your kids 180 days of instruction. After the third snow day -- your kid is getting days taken off the required 180. (And for those who think the snow days were "built in" from the Monday afternoons -- wrong. Those are accounted for by the extra long Xmas break, the extra 2 hr. early dismissals, and the extra days off throughout the year -- Sept., April, etc.)

We're getting short changed... but the school board doesn't think we're smart enough to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure but sign me up. My kids are not yet part of fcps but our preschool follows fcps and it boils me beyond belief that they're taking advantage of fcps when none of the concerns for closure affect the preschool yet we pay, and they keep closing.

THIS drives me nuts. Same with our preschool. We have no buses!! No reason my kid can't go to preschool at noon (he's afternoons).

We are afternoons as well. I sit on the preschool board and have pushed for alternatives but it has becom very apparent that the director loves her snow days and doesn't want to consider alternatives. We suggested "making their own decision" or following government closure or following Arlington closures (since we are on the border) but every suggestion was shot down. The killer part is when fcps does something like extend Mondays or schedule days into June, she miraculously stops following fcps and becomes an independent thinker. It is a money pit.

I will tell you exactly what the problem is with the preschools. Many teachers at PT preschools are mothers with their own school-age kids. They purposefully get a job with this kind of schedule so that they can be available for their own children after school, on school holidays, summers, etc. These jobs are low paying and that's the trade off, but it's worth it for many moms to do that and still keep their foot in the door or make some extra money. It's not coincidental that so many church preschools follow the FCPS schedules to the letter. Do you know how disruptive it would be for these teachers, who took the job with the knowledge that their workplace follows FCPS snow days and that they would be home with their children on those days, to suddenly have a mid-year switch and have to deal with backup childcare? It would be a huge problem. I do not fault the preschools in any way for doing this even though it BURNS ME UP INSIDE that I paid for 5 days of preschool this week and got one, thanks to the holiday and snow days! This is a FCPS problem, not a preschool problem.

As you said, it's not like preschool tuition is paying the teachers a living wage. They earn a tiny fraction of what most of you earn. You get what you pay for, or are preschool teachers supposed to be your charity workers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure but sign me up. My kids are not yet part of fcps but our preschool follows fcps and it boils me beyond belief that they're taking advantage of fcps when none of the concerns for closure affect the preschool yet we pay, and they keep closing.

THIS drives me nuts. Same with our preschool. We have no buses!! No reason my kid can't go to preschool at noon (he's afternoons).

We are afternoons as well. I sit on the preschool board and have pushed for alternatives but it has becom very apparent that the director loves her snow days and doesn't want to consider alternatives. We suggested "making their own decision" or following government closure or following Arlington closures (since we are on the border) but every suggestion was shot down. The killer part is when fcps does something like extend Mondays or schedule days into June, she miraculously stops following fcps and becomes an independent thinker. It is a money pit.

I will tell you exactly what the problem is with the preschools. Many teachers at PT preschools are mothers with their own school-age kids. They purposefully get a job with this kind of schedule so that they can be available for their own children after school, on school holidays, summers, etc. These jobs are low paying and that's the trade off, but it's worth it for many moms to do that and still keep their foot in the door or make some extra money. It's not coincidental that so many church preschools follow the FCPS schedules to the letter. Do you know how disruptive it would be for these teachers, who took the job with the knowledge that their workplace follows FCPS snow days and that they would be home with their children on those days, to suddenly have a mid-year switch and have to deal with backup childcare? It would be a huge problem. I do not fault the preschools in any way for doing this even though it BURNS ME UP INSIDE that I paid for 5 days of preschool this week and got one, thanks to the holiday and snow days! This is a FCPS problem, not a preschool problem.

As you said, it's not like preschool tuition is paying the teachers a living wage. They earn a tiny fraction of what most of you earn. You get what you pay for, or are preschool teachers supposed to be your charity workers?

Exactly! If you want a preschool that stays open all of the time, change preschools! You knew about this policy before you agreed to pay tuition. There are many daycares with preschool programs that do not follow the FCPS closure policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure but sign me up. My kids are not yet part of fcps but our preschool follows fcps and it boils me beyond belief that they're taking advantage of fcps when none of the concerns for closure affect the preschool yet we pay, and they keep closing.

THIS drives me nuts. Same with our preschool. We have no buses!! No reason my kid can't go to preschool at noon (he's afternoons).

We are afternoons as well. I sit on the preschool board and have pushed for alternatives but it has becom very apparent that the director loves her snow days and doesn't want to consider alternatives. We suggested "making their own decision" or following government closure or following Arlington closures (since we are on the border) but every suggestion was shot down. The killer part is when fcps does something like extend Mondays or schedule days into June, she miraculously stops following fcps and becomes an independent thinker. It is a money pit.

I will tell you exactly what the problem is with the preschools. Many teachers at PT preschools are mothers with their own school-age kids. They purposefully get a job with this kind of schedule so that they can be available for their own children after school, on school holidays, summers, etc. These jobs are low paying and that's the trade off, but it's worth it for many moms to do that and still keep their foot in the door or make some extra money. It's not coincidental that so many church preschools follow the FCPS schedules to the letter. Do you know how disruptive it would be for these teachers, who took the job with the knowledge that their workplace follows FCPS snow days and that they would be home with their children on those days, to suddenly have a mid-year switch and have to deal with backup childcare? It would be a huge problem. I do not fault the preschools in any way for doing this even though it BURNS ME UP INSIDE that I paid for 5 days of preschool this week and got one, thanks to the holiday and snow days! This is a FCPS problem, not a preschool problem.

As you said, it's not like preschool tuition is paying the teachers a living wage. They earn a tiny fraction of what most of you earn. You get what you pay for, or are preschool teachers supposed to be your charity workers?

Yes, that's my point. I don't think it is fair to screw over the preschool teachers to keep the preschools open. And clearly the preschool administrators agree, because that's why the schools are closed and they follow the FCPS schedules for snow days. Yes, the schools could technically be open, but it would screw their teachers over in terms of them having to find their own backup child care. Like I said, as much as this sucks personally to have my kid be out of school all week, I'm glad that they are doing the right thing by their teachers. Happy teachers = happy kids.

[Anonymous]

I'm from a state where snow and cold are much more plentiful and school closures are very rare, because the cities and counties are well equipped to deal with snow and ice. Without large, capable fleets of plows and ice control I don't see how we can get schools open more regularly. There are also issues of teacher contract times and duties, background checks (so parents can't babysit in the cafeteria) and variance in conditions over the huge county. There's not an easy solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure but sign me up. My kids are not yet part of fcps but our preschool follows fcps and it boils me beyond belief that they're taking advantage of fcps when none of the concerns for closure affect the preschool yet we pay, and they keep closing.

THIS drives me nuts. Same with our preschool. We have no buses!! No reason my kid can't go to preschool at noon (he's afternoons).

We are afternoons as well. I sit on the preschool board and have pushed for alternatives but it has becom very apparent that the director loves her snow days and doesn't want to consider alternatives. We suggested "making their own decision" or following government closure or following Arlington closures (since we are on the border) but every suggestion was shot down. The killer part is when fcps does something like extend Mondays or schedule days into June, she miraculously stops following fcps and becomes an independent thinker. It is a money pit.

I will tell you exactly what the problem is with the preschools. Many teachers at PT preschools are mothers with their own school-age kids. They purposefully get a job with this kind of schedule so that they can be available for their own children after school, on school holidays, summers, etc. These jobs are low paying and that's the trade off, but it's worth it for many moms to do that and still keep their foot in the door or make some extra money. It's not coincidental that so many church preschools follow the FCPS schedules to the letter. Do you know how disruptive it would be for these teachers, who took the job with the knowledge that their workplace follows FCPS snow days and that they would be home with their children on those days, to suddenly have a mid-year switch and have to deal with backup childcare? It would be a huge problem. I do not fault the preschools in any way for doing this even though it BURNS ME UP INSIDE that I paid for 5 days of preschool this week and got one, thanks to the holiday and snow days! This is a FCPS problem, not a preschool problem.

As you said, it's not like preschool tuition is paying the teachers a living wage. They earn a tiny fraction of what most of you earn. You get what you pay for, or are preschool teachers supposed to be your charity workers?

Yes, that's my point. I don't think it is fair to screw over the preschool teachers to keep the preschools open. And clearly the preschool administrators agree, because that's why the schools are closed and they follow the FCPS schedules for snow days. Yes, the schools could technically be open, but it would screw their teachers over in terms of them having to find their own backup child care. Like I said, as much as this sucks personally to have my kid be out of school all week, I'm glad that they are doing the right thing by their teachers. Happy teachers = happy kids.

Brilliant common sense thinking. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps you could be useful and help clean-up the roads? A school bus slid and crashed in front of my house. On a day the schools *didn't* close.

+100
A school bus slid into and rear-ended a car in our neighborhood. Not pretty.

[Anonymous]

I am good with how they have handled this year other than the day they failed to close but should have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure but sign me up. My kids are not yet part of fcps but our preschool follows fcps and it boils me beyond belief that they're taking advantage of fcps when none of the concerns for closure affect the preschool yet we pay, and they keep closing.

THIS drives me nuts. Same with our preschool. We have no buses!! No reason my kid can't go to preschool at noon (he's afternoons).

We are afternoons as well. I sit on the preschool board and have pushed for alternatives but it has becom very apparent that the director loves her snow days and doesn't want to consider alternatives. We suggested "making their own decision" or following government closure or following Arlington closures (since we are on the border) but every suggestion was shot down. The killer part is when fcps does something like extend Mondays or schedule days into June, she miraculously stops following fcps and becomes an independent thinker. It is a money pit.

I will tell you exactly what the problem is with the preschools. Many teachers at PT preschools are mothers with their own school-age kids. They purposefully get a job with this kind of schedule so that they can be available for their own children after school, on school holidays, summers, etc. These jobs are low paying and that's the trade off, but it's worth it for many moms to do that and still keep their foot in the door or make some extra money. It's not coincidental that so many church preschools follow the FCPS schedules to the letter. Do you know how disruptive it would be for these teachers, who took the job with the knowledge that their workplace follows FCPS snow days and that they would be home with their children on those days, to suddenly have a mid-year switch and have to deal with backup childcare? It would be a huge problem. I do not fault the preschools in any way for doing this even though it BURNS ME UP INSIDE that I paid for 5 days of preschool this week and got one, thanks to the holiday and snow days! This is a FCPS problem, not a preschool problem.

As you said, it's not like preschool tuition is paying the teachers a living wage. They earn a tiny fraction of what most of you earn. You get what you pay for, or are preschool teachers supposed to be your charity workers?

I'm thankful that my daycare/preschool doesn't follow FCPS's closure schedule. They were only closed one day this winter.

[Anonymous]

PS wait until you have kids in high school working harder than you ever have in your adult life. Any day off from that grind is welcome.

[Anonymous]

Safety comes first, angry parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here, I'm tired of complaining and feeling overwhelmed about this, so I started thinking about solutions today and how parents could make a change.

Someone on a previous forum mentioned open the cafeterias early so parents can drop off their children if the issue relates to children waiting in the cold for the bus. Brilliant idea and doable.

Other ideas....


Can parents take turns babysitting the cafeteria kids? Presumably not every teacher can plow her street.

Not to mention, it's not the teacher's job to "babysit." It's the teacher's job to teach.

How exactly do they teach when the kids are not there?

[Anonymous]

Parents, FCPS is not just closing the schools to piss you off.
They actually have a decision making process. Safety is the priority.



Inclement Weather Decision Making Process Outlined
Fairfax County Public Schools is aware of the implications of opening school during less than perfect conditions and of delaying or closing schools when poor weather conditions exist or are predicted. The school system understands that its students are better served--both academically and socially—by being in school. On the other hand, the school system knows that it operates within an area whose transportation system has difficulty operating efficiently even when the weather is perfect. Fairfax County’s transportation system includes high speed, high volume roadways such as Route 66, Route 495, Route 95, the Fairfax County Parkway, and others. The county’s transportation system also includes narrow, winding roads in still relatively rural parts of the county such as Clifton and Great Falls.

Because Fairfax County encompasses approximately 400 square miles, the weather can vary significantly—as can road conditions--in different parts of the county. While the western and northern parts of the county usually have colder temperatures--and thus the worst conditions--sometimes the reverse is true. Often the major roadways are in good driving condition, but neighborhood roads remain treacherous.

FCPS students and staff members typically travel to school in five ways. Some are driven on school buses, some walk to schools or bus stops, some are driven by their parents, some drive themselves, and some are driven by other students. When the school system considers the impact of weather conditions on the ability to open schools, it considers all these methods of transportation. In fact, because school bus transportation is by far the safest form of transportation, decisions to delay or close schools are rarely made because of concern over school bus transportation. FCPS thinks about teenagers who drive to high schools in the early morning hours before it is light. It thinks about students who walk and about students waiting at bus stops. The school system thinks about the many students who attend schools, centers, or programs that are long distances from their homes. FCPS recognizes that thousands of its students do not go to their base schools in order to have access to the programs or services that best meet their needs.

Because some FCPS schools open as early as 7:20 a.m., and because many students drive or are driven long distances to their schools, FCPS school buses begin their runs before 6 a.m. By 6 a.m., FCPS students are on buses, at bus stops waiting for buses, or still at home after their parents have left for work. Experience tells school officials that the absolute worst thing the school system can do is to unexpectedly return students home without parents knowing that this is happening. Occasionally weather conditions worsen quickly thus requiring a later decision. Parents need to be aware of this possibility and plan accordingly. The safety of our students, staff, and parents remains our primary consideration.

Many staff members, such as bus drivers, leave home well before 5 a.m. Many parents need time to make last-minute arrangements for child care. Accordingly, the school system makes every effort to make decisions to delay opening or to not open schools by 4:30 a.m. Once a decision is made by the Superintendent, it takes approximately 30 minutes to complete notifying local media, updating the school system web page, the school system television channel, sending Keep in Touch e-mail and SMS messages, and posting to Facebook and Twitter.

If the school system is lucky, weather events occur in ways and times that make it easy to decide to open, delay, or close. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. It is amazing how often snow, sleet, or freezing rain doesn’t start until between 5 and 8 a.m. Often, the school system has to base its decisions on weather forecasts. This sometimes results in schools opening when the conditions are worse than anticipated and in schools closing on days when the weather ends up being not all that bad. On some days, Fairfax County residents experience perfect conditions in some areas of the county and very dangerous conditions in other parts of the county. On some occasions, the school system has been able to make a scheduling decision the day before so that parents, staff members, and students know what will happen the following day. This usually happens when precipitation is already on the ground and the temperatures are such that the precipitation on the ground is frozen or will refreeze.

FCPS prefers to avoid making decisions based on forecasts. When weather events are actually occurring, or have occurred, the school system gathers information from many sources. FCPS administrators participate in regional conference calls that include representatives from the National Weather Service, the Virginia Department of Transportation, mass transit, police departments, federal and local agencies, and school systems. Everyone shares information during these calls. The school system consults with the Fairfax County Police Department to get road condition information from different parts of the county. FCPS security staff members report what they are experiencing as they check schools and parking lots. School bus transportation staff members drive into neighborhoods and around schools to obtain firsthand information on current conditions. Administrators talk to FCPS maintenance and custodial staff members who are responsible for clearing and treating school parking lots and sidewalks. Finally, school officials consult with other school systems in the region to share information.

Once all this information is gained, the Superintendent is called and briefed. She makes the final decision.

On some occasions, the school system has been able to make a scheduling decision the day before so that parents, staff members, and students know what will happen the following day.

Those administrators who help make the decisions know that often no perfect decision exists. What many parents, staff members, and students think about FCPS opening and closing decisions often is influenced by where they live, how they commute, what their child care situation is, and many other factors.

The school system hopes that this explanation helps everyone understand the process and the steps administrators take to help the Superintendent make the best possible decisions. When everything is said and done, however, each parent should be prepared to make the best decision for his or her own child. If schools are open, but a parent does not believe it is safe for his or her child, the parent should keep the child at home.

[Anonymous]

DCUMs have enough money to pay for a babysitter. Stop complaining and be prepared. School is not free childcare. That is why the OP is complaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We can do it as long as we pony up the labor/funding. Public schools aren't supposed to be in the babysitting business.

Now, for poor children who need lunch and coats, etc., we need to address that.

How about letting their parents go to work so they can afford it rather than call in sick to watch the kids. The government bureaucrats may still get paid on snow days somehow, but working people lose a days pay, or 12 days pay.