Will voting out the school board make the school calendar sane again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, bottom line, as another person put it, is that this isn't about the calendar or about the lack of available childcare options, or about kids' education being jeopardized or about summer being too short. This is about the school board makeup not being what they want it to be, or "too woke," as they put it. I, for one, am glad that the current school board is considerate of all Fairfax County populations. I want my kid to grow up knowing that being kind is a good thing. It's not a weakness, and this is not a zero sum game. We can all benefit, but we all have to compromise.

Sorry to burst this bubble but its absolutely about the lack of good options for childcare for this many days off, made worse by the profound disrespect demonstrated by spending parents time and money for them, like every FCPS parent can (or should!) swan out of work at 4pm and fork over $200/per day just to make sure the schools we are already paying for are empty.

I should add— the furlough has highlighted this for many parents. I have friends who have forked over $1000 since the shutdown began to cover childcare costs related to school closures for things like Diwali and todays early dismissal. Meanwhile they're working unpaid. Incredibly out of touch for FCPS, and people will remember it.

Schools are for education, not babysitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not about the calendar. Complaining about the school calendar seems “non-political” on the surface, but it provides a way to voice broader discontent with the school board’s values or priorities. It’s easier to rally people around something tangible, like too many days off, than around abstract policy disagreements.

That's why this discussion will never end. Concerns about childcare challenges (despite many available solutions), the impact on student learning (FCPS consistently ranks among the top school systems in the country), or the length of summer break (too short for what, exactly?) will never be satisfied. Because it's not about the calendar. It’s a means to rally support for a different school board.

So just say what you mean so that we can have a proper discussion.

Oh yes? Share the “many” taxpayer funded, age and developmentally appropriate childcare options available for one-off days.

There are actually quite a few options, though availability can vary by age and location. Many of them were posted earlier in the thread. For one-off school holidays, families often use:

Fairfax County Park Authority “Schools Out” day camps at local recreation centers, which run 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. for elementary-aged children. These taxpayer-funded through the county’s park system

Local RECenter programs and YMCA camps that offer day programs aligned with FCPS holidays. RECenters are county-operated facilities funded by taxes, though some program fees may apply.

Private enrichment programs like Mad Science, Bricks 4 Kidz, ArtSpace, and STEM or sports camps that run single-day sessions.

School- or PTA-organized programs at some elementary schools for early release or teacher workdays.

These are all taxpayer-supported or community-based programs designed to be age-appropriate and structured, and many families in Fairfax use them regularly for occasional school closures. Hope they help you manage the one-off school closures like they've helped me.

None of what you've listed provides transportation, support for children with special needs, or before/aftercare. Fairfax expects September birthdays to start kindergarten at four which most Rec center classes don’t accept, so early days off like 9/9 are just SOL.

Yes— there are plenty of options for parents who have unlimited money and time. If FCPS wants to underscore their commitment to being a school district out of touch with those constituents that do not, they will continue as they are.

Parenting. Try it sometime.

Sure do! Including making sure to highlight ways that our elected officials can gain the support of parents— and what will make parents vote them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 29 school holidays this year. Which of these do you propose be removed?

2 - Labor Day
1 - Rosh Hashanah
1 - Yom Kippur
1 - Diwali
1 - Veterans Day
3 - Thanksgiving
1 - Christmas
1 - New Year's Day
8 - Winter Break
1 - MLK Day
1 - Presidents' Day
1 - Eid al Fitr
5 - Holy Week; Spring Break
1 - Memorial Day
1 - Eid al Adha

The other 10 days off are teacher work days, staff development days, and school planning days. Those aren't going away.

These people want them all removed of any religious holiday that isn’t Christian, and any federal holiday that isn’t Thanksgiving, “holiday” (Christmas/NY), Labor or Memorial Day. Luckily it isn’t going to happen, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, bottom line, as another person put it, is that this isn't about the calendar or about the lack of available childcare options, or about kids' education being jeopardized or about summer being too short. This is about the school board makeup not being what they want it to be, or "too woke," as they put it. I, for one, am glad that the current school board is considerate of all Fairfax County populations. I want my kid to grow up knowing that being kind is a good thing. It's not a weakness, and this is not a zero sum game. We can all benefit, but we all have to compromise.

Sorry to burst this bubble but its absolutely about the lack of good options for childcare for this many days off, made worse by the profound disrespect demonstrated by spending parents time and money for them, like every FCPS parent can (or should!) swan out of work at 4pm and fork over $200/per day just to make sure the schools we are already paying for are empty.

I should add— the furlough has highlighted this for many parents. I have friends who have forked over $1000 since the shutdown began to cover childcare costs related to school closures for things like Diwali and todays early dismissal. Meanwhile they're working unpaid. Incredibly out of touch for FCPS, and people will remember it.

Oh geez, that is the risk of a government job. Teachers get 2nd jobs, so can these people.

Guess you’re not familiar with national security jobs but no they are not allowed to just get second jobs, they must be approved to do so.

Don’t worry when it’s time to vote I’m sure “geez they could get second jobs to cover teacher planning days!” will resonate.

Most fed jobs aren’t “national security jobs,” but good try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 29 school holidays this year. Which of these do you propose be removed?

2 - Labor Day
1 - Rosh Hashanah
1 - Yom Kippur
1 - Diwali
1 - Veterans Day
3 - Thanksgiving
1 - Christmas
1 - New Year's Day
8 - Winter Break
1 - MLK Day
1 - Presidents' Day
1 - Eid al Fitr
5 - Holy Week; Spring Break
1 - Memorial Day
1 - Eid al Adha

The other 10 days off are teacher work days, staff development days, and school planning days. Those aren't going away.

They can take place on other holidays id school must be closed to students. Teachers can plan on Columbus/Indigenous.

Columbus Day is already a teacher planning day.

OK so keep working backward— Tuesday before Thanksgiving, President’s Day, Dec 22-23, there are plenty of days off which can be put to that use. Perhaps give principals some discretion to ask their teams whether they'd rather plan on Diwali or Friday after Thanksgiving…

LOL, try telling the teachers that they'll need to work on the Friday after Thanksgiving or on Presidents' Day, and let's see how far that gets you.

Try telling the parents to fork over $1000k this month alone to cover teacher planning days and this thread— and the calls the school board already says they’re getting— is precisely what you’ll see.

Noooobody caaaaares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No but that doesn't mean we shouldn't vote them out anyway. There are PLENTY of reasons to do so.

And get MAGA? NOPE!

What is wrong with Making America great? Your TDS is showing.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No but that doesn't mean we shouldn't vote them out anyway. There are PLENTY of reasons to do so.

And get MAGA? NOPE!

The very liberal left has become as crazy and extreme as MAGA. Pick your poison. This extremely left school board is terrible. A Republican school board (or at least some Republican board members) is looking better every day.

There is no extreme “very liberal left” in the U.S. Our far left is other intelligent developed countries’ centrism.. Try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"longer" school year is made possible by lots of 4day weekends and days off for mental health, schoolwork, etc. and parents know years in advance for childcare. I truly don't see the reason for school board hatred, angst over this

The hatred is because it’s disrespectful.

Whether it was intentional or not, you’re entirely wrong about “years in advance”. The early dismissals starting in ‘24 were announced weeks before they started. The new day of the week for this awful program was announced in May. No one believes Reid or the board won’t make more changes to published calendars— fool us once, shame on you, fool us twice …

And so the hatred is because of the disrespect and sexism. FCPS’ casual assumption that women (its always women) couldn’t possibly have jobs so demanding that 39 days off PLUS early dismissals could possibly represent a hardship to the mothers they assume are home eating bonbons. And if they’re NOT sitting home surely they can fork out $1000 extra a month to cover childcare so teachers can “plan”. Meanwhile, no matter how long you know in advance no job is handing most workers 39 days off between September and June.

FCPS is going to need to answer to their constituents. Board members know people are angry.

I get that the early release days have caused frustration, but FCPS actually did announce the switch from Mondays to Wednesdays back in May for an August start. That’s several months of notice. And since schools are providing supervised care and transportation for students who need to stay until the regular dismissal time, families aren’t left scrambling for childcare on those days.

But I don’t think the intent was to disregard families or assume anything about working parents. FCPS is trying to balance instructional needs and teacher planning time, all while managing staffing and scheduling constraints. It’s not perfect, but this feels more like competing priorities than disrespect or sexism. Constructive feedback really does make a difference, especially when it comes from parents who want to help shape solutions.

Right— thats not “years”. Neither was announcing the beginning of these early release days after the end of the school year “years” of notice— particularly after releasing a calendar that bragged about the number of five-day weeks. Compounding that, the justification for the days was blamed on Richmond and announced as a one-year fix. No one has yet taken responsibility for that lie, which again, is why working parents feel so profoundly disrespected: we were lied to.

I’m interested in your perspective that it “feels” more like competing priorities than disrespect or sexism. Feels to whom? Because its not a secret in Fairfax or anywhere else that women do most of the childcare, so when FCPS put out instructions to drop everything and get your kid at 12, who is it you “felt” they were talking to? And if they didn’t consider the disparate impact of that decision, they would be acting against established best practices.

If you can’t get it together between May and August, it’s a You Problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 29 school holidays this year. Which of these do you propose be removed?

2 - Labor Day
1 - Rosh Hashanah
1 - Yom Kippur
1 - Diwali
1 - Veterans Day
3 - Thanksgiving
1 - Christmas
1 - New Year's Day
8 - Winter Break
1 - MLK Day
1 - Presidents' Day
1 - Eid al Fitr
5 - Holy Week; Spring Break
1 - Memorial Day
1 - Eid al Adha

The other 10 days off are teacher work days, staff development days, and school planning days. Those aren't going away.

They can take place on other holidays id school must be closed to students. Teachers can plan on Columbus/Indigenous.

Columbus Day is already a teacher planning day.

OK so keep working backward— Tuesday before Thanksgiving, President’s Day, Dec 22-23, there are plenty of days off which can be put to that use. Perhaps give principals some discretion to ask their teams whether they'd rather plan on Diwali or Friday after Thanksgiving…

LOL, try telling the teachers that they'll need to work on the Friday after Thanksgiving or on Presidents' Day, and let's see how far that gets you.

Try telling the parents to fork over $1000k this month alone to cover teacher planning days and this thread— and the calls the school board already says they’re getting— is precisely what you’ll see.

Noooobody caaaaares.

I mean, you certainly do. Why so triggered— do you work at gatehouse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"longer" school year is made possible by lots of 4day weekends and days off for mental health, schoolwork, etc. and parents know years in advance for childcare. I truly don't see the reason for school board hatred, angst over this

The hatred is because it’s disrespectful.

Whether it was intentional or not, you’re entirely wrong about “years in advance”. The early dismissals starting in ‘24 were announced weeks before they started. The new day of the week for this awful program was announced in May. No one believes Reid or the board won’t make more changes to published calendars— fool us once, shame on you, fool us twice …

And so the hatred is because of the disrespect and sexism. FCPS’ casual assumption that women (its always women) couldn’t possibly have jobs so demanding that 39 days off PLUS early dismissals could possibly represent a hardship to the mothers they assume are home eating bonbons. And if they’re NOT sitting home surely they can fork out $1000 extra a month to cover childcare so teachers can “plan”. Meanwhile, no matter how long you know in advance no job is handing most workers 39 days off between September and June.

FCPS is going to need to answer to their constituents. Board members know people are angry.

Speak for your family yourself. My husband is i take equal days off to support school days off. Perhaps the casual sexism is in your own house. Hate when people claim this, when it really speaks to your own household.
(We also don't love taking all this random time off)

The statistics, which are widely available me, say your family is an anomaly. FCPS knows it’s the women whose time and money they are freeloading on. My husband's job comes with less annual leave than mine, and sure everyone would love if employers handed out 40 days (eight weeks!) of PTO from September to June but it doesn't happen.

Cool. Sounds like the consequences of your family’s choices. Yes, choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The SB needs to address this Calendar immediately. How have we come to accept this for our children? They are never in School. It is quite frankly terrible. I am surprised the media hasn't picked up on it.

Same 180 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those saying this isn't about woke politics, I am having a hard time fathoming why a conservative school board would have allowed this. This definitely seems like woke nonsense. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Nobody is going to bite.
Push your politocs elsewhere.

That is an interesting point, i wonder how many days off they have in the bible belt.

My family member lives in the buckle of the Bible belt.

Their public schools all start around August 15th.

High school graduations are the 3rd week of May.

School ends no later than the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.

They are off the same Thanksgiving days as FCPS (Weds-Friday), roughly 10 days for Christmas break (December 23 through January 1, might be longer on the years that Christmas/NY falls on a Tuesday or Wednesday), and are off Labor Day and I think MLK day (so honoring one national holiday each semester.)

The Friday before Easter is usually a half day.

Spring break is at the end of 3rd quarter, separate from Easter.

The 1st semester ends in December. 2nd semester begins in January.

All quarters are roughly equal.

Half days and 1 day off at the end of 1st quarter.

They have 3-5 snow days built into the calender.

This is standard for all the public schools in the area, even the diverse ones.

Neat. My siblings and their kids are in the Deep South, in multiple school districts. They get out in mid-June and have tons of one off weekdays in their calendars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those saying this isn't about woke politics, I am having a hard time fathoming why a conservative school board would have allowed this. This definitely seems like woke nonsense. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Nobody is going to bite.
Push your politocs elsewhere.

Nobody is going to bite because there's no other explanation. There's no objective evidence supporting any of these added days off. It's pure liberal politics.

And many of us are fine with it.

I'm pretty liberal and my job is getting pretty sick of all the mondays/fridays I have to take off or work from home.

I know school isn't child care but two incomes are necessary for a lot of families around here and the school calendar is basically a 4 day school week for most of the year.

Why does everyone think this is all about non-christian religious holidays? What holiday is it today?

So don’t take off or work from home. Get childcare. You’re a DCUM Mom, not a Walmart cashier. Yes, you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's so insane about the school year calendar? I think it's great that we're observing religious holidays beyond the Christian ones.

Do you have a job? If I have to explain this to you, you clearly do not have younger children and work full time.

schools are not your babysitters. that problem is on you.

This is a great example of the gaslighting no one is buying. You overplayed it during Covid. Now it’s an elections issue.

The School Board isn’t going to change hands, but do go on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's so insane about the school year calendar? I think it's great that we're observing religious holidays beyond the Christian ones.

Do you have a job? If I have to explain this to you, you clearly do not have younger children and work full time.

schools are not your babysitters. that problem is on you.

Actually, they are. Get over it.

Actually, they aren’t. Get childcare for the off days, build a bridge and get over it.