He said he needed to do this to bd competitive with neighboring districts whose central office staff can telework. When he said it, surely he knew FCPS ended their telework policies. People in central office positions in neighboring districts can’t believe the perks our central office gets. Also- pay us finance and payroll, isn’t it? They’re a mess, as well as HR, as well as my the coordinator, supervisor, and specialists in my content area. No one does squat up there. |
I think fairfax makes their calendar two years in advance too. At least they already have the calendars for 24-25 and 25-26 up on the website. I am not sure about the other districts though. |
Also, does “neighboring jurisdictions” really just mean Fairfax? Because FCPS doesn’t align with FCC, and what about DC and Alexandria? |
+1. I don't know why they aren't just transparent and say they're aligning with FCPS. Because they're certainly not aligning with FCC. |
I'm Jewish and suggested that they decrease the number of religious holidays (suggested only having a day off for Yom kippur). They seem committed to keeping religious holidays despite all the negative comments, but maybe there could be fewer of these days off. |
They're keeping it vague so that they can pick and chose which jurisdictions to align with to get to where they want. In practice that's going to mean FCPS nine times out of ten. |
Why do they want to lengthen the school year/shorten the summer, when this idea is extremely unpopular among families & teachers/staff? Does anyone know the underlying motivation? |
I think likely because the Central Office (Syphax) staff get extra (paid!) holidays during the academic year. Which will also be enshrined by the calendar policy. It's demoralizing for 10-month, student-facing staff who don't get paid for those holidays. |
I’m Muslim. The first day of Ramadan as an observance is hilarious and makes absolutely no sense. We fast for 30 days. Either the entire 30 days should be a religious observance (which obviously doesn’t make sense) or there should be no religious observance days for Ramadan. |
Duran is in the business of MAFA
Make Arlington Fairfax Again And why? There’s no tangible benefit. |
So people at Syphax can get a bunch of paid holidays. |
Staff are upset about the shortened summer but some want 4 day schoolweeks. Adding the religious holidays is a way to create more 4 day school weeks but say it's for "equity". Except for the tiny inequitable consequence that some major holidays are not on the list and it definitely is not equitable for people who need to find childcare or students with disabilities who need consistency. |
Anyone read the comments? They are like 98% negative. Will the school board care? |
Probably not, but with the new format, everyone can see that (almost) no one agrees with the calendar proposal. So I guess they’ll have to admit they truly do not care at all about community feedback. |
Oh my gosh it's brutal. |