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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren’t the calendar choices out there for us to vote on. And the calendar with the majority is the one they use. I mean you get the calendar three years in advance. How are you not planning ahead it’s not like you get the calendar month-to-month. If you don’t like it, then run for school board.

Did you actually do the calendar survey? There was no option to vote against the ton of extra days added that only a small minority of the system needs off on.

I for one am glad that our school system respects a good number of minority groups in similar measure to majority groups.

I'd rather the school system respect academics and sound operating principles. Feel free to celebrate your religion on your own time, but let the rest of us go to school.

That's exactly what they're doing, you just don't care to see it.

This isn’t true. There is no pedagogical backing for such a disruptive calendar and most early childhood education experts would agree.

Holding school on a day which will disadvantage students of particular faiths is not respecting academics (or at best, it is only respecting academics for students not of that faith) and is certainly not a sound operating procedure.

Then those families should go to a relgious school. Let the rest of us go to school.

Nope.

[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.

Your job is not the school’s problem. 🤷‍♀️

I keep hearing things like this. Why do you think that’s true?

Public School is a public service. It changes to meet the needs of the public. That means evolving schedules to reflect changing economic realities (or do you still send your kids to do agricultural labor?) like the reality that most FFX households are now supported by all adults in the household working.

So as long as people don’t allow themselves to be gaslit by comments like yours, it will change if pressure remains on the school board.

Because it is true. You don’t like it. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Honey, they aren’t getting “voted out.” Sorry,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Your job is not the school’s problem. 🤷‍♀️

I keep hearing things like this. Why do you think that’s true?

Public School is a public service. It changes to meet the needs of the public. That means evolving schedules to reflect changing economic realities (or do you still send your kids to do agricultural labor?) like the reality that most FFX households are now supported by all adults in the household working.

So as long as people don’t allow themselves to be gaslit by comments like yours, it will change if pressure remains on the school board.

Because it is true. You don’t like it. Oh well.

Here’s a sane calendar from ancient history…2018.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/SY16-17StandardCal.pdf

Admire the art of the possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Honey, they aren’t getting “voted out.” Sorry,

That…isn’t what they think.

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/09/30/shrinking-summer-breaks-a-growing-source-of-complaints-fairfax-school-board-says/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Your job is not the school’s problem. 🤷‍♀️

I keep hearing things like this. Why do you think that’s true?

Public School is a public service. It changes to meet the needs of the public. That means evolving schedules to reflect changing economic realities (or do you still send your kids to do agricultural labor?) like the reality that most FFX households are now supported by all adults in the household working.

So as long as people don’t allow themselves to be gaslit by comments like yours, it will change if pressure remains on the school board.

Because it is true. You don’t like it. Oh well.

Teachers hate being called babysitters even though that is what they mostly are. The entire amount of actual teaching is probably 2-3 hours a day. The rest is babysitting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And when will the opportunity arise?

Not soon enough.

The current school board is HORRIBLE!

Hate to remind you, it has been horrible for MANY years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No,

Our far left is bat$#it crazy extreme.

[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.

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.

Which state?

My kids went to school in the deep south.

They did not go mid August to late June like fcps.

[Anonymous]

The half days in elementary schools are the final straw for me. It means literally almost no full weeks ever. Its awful.

My kids are old enough to be home (4th and 6th), but its disruptive and inefficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Your job is not the school’s problem. 🤷‍♀️

I keep hearing things like this. Why do you think that’s true?

Public School is a public service. It changes to meet the needs of the public. That means evolving schedules to reflect changing economic realities (or do you still send your kids to do agricultural labor?) like the reality that most FFX households are now supported by all adults in the household working.

So as long as people don’t allow themselves to be gaslit by comments like yours, it will change if pressure remains on the school board.

Because it is true. You don’t like it. Oh well.

Here’s a sane calendar from ancient history…2018.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/SY16-17StandardCal.pdf

Admire the art of the possible.

OMG, psycho taking credit for my post.

[Anonymous]

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.

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.

Kids can easily be in school for Veteran's Day, MLK Day, President's Day, and Memorial Day. We can also have a shorter winter break - two full weeks every year is excessive.

We can also reduce the other 10 days - we can do a better job of pairing them with the holidays in a given year (so we have a 3 day week instead of two four day weeks where the holiday occurs randomly in the middle of the week); we can also move some of the staff development days to the summer. (Yes, we'd have to pay teachers for that time. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!)

Also, definitely keep the Thanksgiving holiday at the 3 (or go back to the 2.5 it used to be.) Having be a full five a couple of years ago was insane.

[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.

We don't observe the Christian holidays.

Easter is on a sunday. So it is never observed by FCPS.

Christmas is a federal holdiay, on a week that every industry in our area including most of the federal government shuts down.

Christmas would be off no matter what, for secular reasons.

It’s no coincidence that spring break always falls the week before Easter, or that winter break aligns with Christmas. The fact that many Christian holidays already fall on weekends, and are still widely observed, shows how deeply our western calendars are structured around Christian traditions. And I understand why; the country was founded on those roots. But centuries later, we’ve become a diverse population, and it’s time our schedules reflected that.

If you want religious holidays, then go private. If you want a different calendar, feel free to move to another country.

FCPS tried to move Spring Break from Easter but if failed horribly. Christmas is one day and not a specific school holiday. Feel free to advocate for a shorter or different Winter Break.

the only way it "failed horribly" was that FCPS immediately reneged on it's promise to pin spring break to a specific week. They did it for one year (where it was conveniently the week prior to Easter) and then the next year just quietly pretended that promise never happened.

Having spring break be the same week every year would have been GREAT. That would have given that portion of the year a lot more stability and consistency for the teachers and students. And unlike Christmas, there's no attendance reason to have the week before Easter off. People aren't traveling in large droves like they are for Christmas. The *only* reason to tie spring break to Holy week is Christian favoritism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

We don't observe the Christian holidays.

Easter is on a sunday. So it is never observed by FCPS.

Christmas is a federal holdiay, on a week that every industry in our area including most of the federal government shuts down.

Christmas would be off no matter what, for secular reasons.

It’s no coincidence that spring break always falls the week before Easter, or that winter break aligns with Christmas. The fact that many Christian holidays already fall on weekends, and are still widely observed, shows how deeply our western calendars are structured around Christian traditions. And I understand why; the country was founded on those roots. But centuries later, we’ve become a diverse population, and it’s time our schedules reflected that.

If you want religious holidays, then go private. If you want a different calendar, feel free to move to another country.

FCPS tried to move Spring Break from Easter but if failed horribly. Christmas is one day and not a specific school holiday. Feel free to advocate for a shorter or different Winter Break.

the only way it "failed horribly" was that FCPS immediately reneged on it's promise to pin spring break to a specific week. They did it for one year (where it was conveniently the week prior to Easter) and then the next year just quietly pretended that promise never happened.

Having spring break be the same week every year would have been GREAT. That would have given that portion of the year a lot more stability and consistency for the teachers and students. And unlike Christmas, there's no attendance reason to have the week before Easter off. People aren't traveling in large droves like they are for Christmas. The *only* reason to tie spring break to Holy week is Christian favoritism.

You must not know many Christians.

Christians do NOT want spring break on Holy Week.

That is some weird northern Virginia thing that has nothing to do with "Christian favoritism" as you claim.

If FCPS was favoring Christians, they would separate spring break from Holy Week like the Catholic schools do, or have spring break the week after Easter once Lent is over.

[Anonymous]

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.

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.

Kids can easily be in school for Veteran's Day, MLK Day, President's Day, and Memorial Day. We can also have a shorter winter break - two full weeks every year is excessive.

We can also reduce the other 10 days - we can do a better job of pairing them with the holidays in a given year (so we have a 3 day week instead of two four day weeks where the holiday occurs randomly in the middle of the week); we can also move some of the staff development days to the summer. (Yes, we'd have to pay teachers for that time. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!)

Also, definitely keep the Thanksgiving holiday at the 3 (or go back to the 2.5 it used to be.) Having be a full five a couple of years ago was insane.

What year was that? I don’t recall a 5 day break at Thanksgiving.