Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, let me get ahead of your response!

Go ahead and relook at the calendar. All 7 FEDERAL holidays that fall during the school year are holidays for staff members as well.

Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day, MLK, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth.

All FEDERAL holidays, all holidays for teachers.

Indigenous People’s Day (not a federal holiday), not a holiday for teachers.

Pretty simple really.

+1 and it’s really the only “holiday” they will ever put a TW/SD on. They will never use federal holidays for TW/SD. So the suggestion to put teacher workdays on federal or religious holidays is mind-numbingly stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hope they will also get rid of early releases while they are on it!

Haha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm so glad someone finally mentioned vulnerable populations. So many early elementary kids are just home alone on those days off. Whereas in the summer, there are free or reduced priced camps they can attend.

Can we also get rid of half days?

LOL. No.

Much more likely to succeed in getting rid of half days than more significant changes to next year’s calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[i]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d be happy enough with the 26-27 calendar as is, as long as the dumb 3 hour early releases are going the way of the dodo. My kids’ ES has given up on any instruction on those days. They use them for class test makeups if a kid was sick and then spend the rest of the time for all the other kids on “team building activities” and playing games. Meanwhile SOL’s are sneaking up on us … only March, April, and maybe a week of May left to go and we have to get through spring break in there …

My guess is, if they can get rid of the early release, Meren can declare victory. It’s an intensely unpopular policy.

Hopefully, they can draw some guidelines for commonsense reformed to the calendar going forward: TW/SD days only permitted on Monday or Friday, teacher training moved virtual and carried out to some extent during snow days, TW days layered on top of either federal or religious holidays, whichever makes more sense.

None of your ideas make sense and/or are feasible. Get real.

TW/PD on a Friday? Never going to happen. Fridays are not productive. No one ever schedules meetings for Friday afternoons. By then, teachers are exhausted.

Virtual teacher training on snow days. doesn’t make sense as teachers’ own children would be at home. A snow day means teachers are off period.

TW on a religious or federal holiday? I don’t think so.

From the perspective of a normal professional adult who is also a parent, professional expectations in 2026 include working five day weeks (even Friday!) teleworking in inclement weather (even if children are home) and not having every religious or federal holiday as PTO. I believe our teachers are professional adults who can adapt to higher professional expectations to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sheeesh, what 19th century boss do you have?!

Professional expectations in 2026 also include unlimited PTO, full time remote work, and a focus on mental health outside of work. Sorry your company hasn’t gotten with the times of R.O.W.E.

Very few jobs offer unlimited PTO and full time remote work. I worked for a company with “unlimited PTO” and the people who took that literally ended up being counseled and then fired. Every contract has a number of hours that employees have to work, drop under that and you are gone. Any contract where you have deadlines or work in teams will have limits on the amount of PTO you can take.

Most of the world reverted to at least hybrid if not full time office after COVID. There are some remote jobs but they are hard to find.

The normal work environment is still 9-5 in the office. You can work to find something else but it isn’t easy.

A bunch of opinion based generalizations here.

“Very few jobs offer unlimited PTO”

In my sector, pharmaceuticals, it’s pretty common. In fact my last 3 companies (severance, merger, promotion) have all offered unlimited PTO. I’ve been approached by multiple competitors, none have any verbiage about contract hours etc. I work on a team and have deadlines, as long as my work is submitted by the deadline, they could care less when and where I do it. As professionals, we have the freedom and the ability to plan our meetings when it works for us.

I think there’s some confusion about what a ROWE workplace is. This may not be common in your sector unfortunately, but it’s very common in others. I’d encourage you to explore better opportunities where the company prioritizes your happiness and mental health as much as they do your work. They’re out there!

I have worked for pretty much every major Defense Contractor in the area. One offered unlimited PTO and they started that 3 years ago. Two people on my team were let go for abusing said policy within a year. You work in a sector that offers it but most don't. I promise you that the parents working retail jobs and house cleaning and other blue collar jobs were they are working for a company do not have remote work and unlimited PTO.

"This may not be common in your sector unfortunately"

Reading comprehension is key.

Obviously retail jobs and house cleaning and other blue collar jobs do not have remote work and unlimited PTO. McDonalds doesn't offer remote work either, shocker. Those aren't ROWE workplaces (mainly a corporate term), and most of them are not 9-5s either, everyone knows that...

As sure as we both are of that, I'm also sure that there are countless corporate accounting, marketing, and engineering jobs (white collar) that are remote with unlimited PTO. The median household income in Fairfax County (census.gov) is north of $150k with the average person making $70k+. Those aren't retail employees or house cleaners...

Are you suggesting that FCPS is or should be an ROWE employer? I don’t see any value to our students in having teachers out of the classroom more than they already are, but, but that would have nothing to do with changes to the calendar and you should perhaps start a new thread advocating for such workplace benefits.

In the meantime, while discussing an important proposal aimed at addressing affordability, I would suggest you consider the following:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/10/03/number-of-jobless-fairfax-residents-up-nearly-28-over-2024-as-more-uncertainty-looms/

Straight out of your article:

"Unemployment figures for Virginia localities and metro areas are reported a month after being compiled. The August figures came out the same day the federal government entered a partial shutdown as Congress failed to agree on a spending plan at the start of the fiscal year."

And here I thought you were advocating for the house cleaners and retail employees?

I’m for all families for whom the cost of childcare is being needlessly driven up by FCPS. Yes its the retain employees, it’s also the VA nurses and the TSA workers who are part of the federal government. What do you think the school board should do to reduce the childcare burden on Fairfax families?

I personally don’t believe any school board/public school system has a responsibility to reduce the cost of private childcare for anyone.

+1

Wow. They may not, however, they do have the well-being of the students as their responsibility. You really do not see the connection here? In any case, there is better learning with consistent schedules. FCPS calendar is anything but consistent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no ~180 day school calendar that is "good" or "right" across all populations.

5-day weeks mean longer breaks. Longer breaks mean learning loss, particularly a longer summer break. Those longer breaks also require expensive childcare - moreso when you don't have college students in town to staff cheap camps.

Shorter weeks mean less consistency, but for middle and HS students, provide a welcome break to catch up on work, or take a mental health day throughout the semester/year. In some cases, it is harder to find childcare for these one-off days - if you already have your child enrolled in before/after care, these days are often included in that or are available for an extra fee.

Snow days: regardless of the calendar there will be snow days if it snows or is icy. There will be more snow days than most parents think is reasonable if the weather on their street isn't too bad. The sooner you surrender to the fact that these snow days will happen, the happier you will be. And no, there is no way for FCPS to only close some schools/pyramids etc. or delay opening for MS and HS and not elementary schools.

The school calendar debate will continue forever because there is no right answer. For those of you with elementary school kids, hang in there - once they hit middle school, so many of the school calendar issues are no longer a big deal.

They could unleash early release days on elementary, so it's possible to treat different levels differently. how about middle and high school students get their extra time off, and elementary gets consistency they need.

Okay - draft that calendar.

Okay - pay me consultant fees.

Thanks for confirming that you can’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[i]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d be happy enough with the 26-27 calendar as is, as long as the dumb 3 hour early releases are going the way of the dodo. My kids’ ES has given up on any instruction on those days. They use them for class test makeups if a kid was sick and then spend the rest of the time for all the other kids on “team building activities” and playing games. Meanwhile SOL’s are sneaking up on us … only March, April, and maybe a week of May left to go and we have to get through spring break in there …

My guess is, if they can get rid of the early release, Meren can declare victory. It’s an intensely unpopular policy.

Hopefully, they can draw some guidelines for commonsense reformed to the calendar going forward: TW/SD days only permitted on Monday or Friday, teacher training moved virtual and carried out to some extent during snow days, TW days layered on top of either federal or religious holidays, whichever makes more sense.

None of your ideas make sense and/or are feasible. Get real.

TW/PD on a Friday? Never going to happen. Fridays are not productive. No one ever schedules meetings for Friday afternoons. By then, teachers are exhausted.

Virtual teacher training on snow days. doesn’t make sense as teachers’ own children would be at home. A snow day means teachers are off period.

TW on a religious or federal holiday? I don’t think so.

From the perspective of a normal professional adult who is also a parent, professional expectations in 2026 include working five day weeks (even Friday!) teleworking in inclement weather (even if children are home) and not having every religious or federal holiday as PTO. I believe our teachers are professional adults who can adapt to higher professional expectations to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sheeesh, what 19th century boss do you have?!

Professional expectations in 2026 also include unlimited PTO, full time remote work, and a focus on mental health outside of work. Sorry your company hasn’t gotten with the times of R.O.W.E.

Very few jobs offer unlimited PTO and full time remote work. I worked for a company with “unlimited PTO” and the people who took that literally ended up being counseled and then fired. Every contract has a number of hours that employees have to work, drop under that and you are gone. Any contract where you have deadlines or work in teams will have limits on the amount of PTO you can take.

Most of the world reverted to at least hybrid if not full time office after COVID. There are some remote jobs but they are hard to find.

The normal work environment is still 9-5 in the office. You can work to find something else but it isn’t easy.

A bunch of opinion based generalizations here.

“Very few jobs offer unlimited PTO”

In my sector, pharmaceuticals, it’s pretty common. In fact my last 3 companies (severance, merger, promotion) have all offered unlimited PTO. I’ve been approached by multiple competitors, none have any verbiage about contract hours etc. I work on a team and have deadlines, as long as my work is submitted by the deadline, they could care less when and where I do it. As professionals, we have the freedom and the ability to plan our meetings when it works for us.

I think there’s some confusion about what a ROWE workplace is. This may not be common in your sector unfortunately, but it’s very common in others. I’d encourage you to explore better opportunities where the company prioritizes your happiness and mental health as much as they do your work. They’re out there!

I have worked for pretty much every major Defense Contractor in the area. One offered unlimited PTO and they started that 3 years ago. Two people on my team were let go for abusing said policy within a year. You work in a sector that offers it but most don't. I promise you that the parents working retail jobs and house cleaning and other blue collar jobs were they are working for a company do not have remote work and unlimited PTO.

"This may not be common in your sector unfortunately"

Reading comprehension is key.

Obviously retail jobs and house cleaning and other blue collar jobs do not have remote work and unlimited PTO. McDonalds doesn't offer remote work either, shocker. Those aren't ROWE workplaces (mainly a corporate term), and most of them are not 9-5s either, everyone knows that...

As sure as we both are of that, I'm also sure that there are countless corporate accounting, marketing, and engineering jobs (white collar) that are remote with unlimited PTO. The median household income in Fairfax County (census.gov) is north of $150k with the average person making $70k+. Those aren't retail employees or house cleaners...

Are you suggesting that FCPS is or should be an ROWE employer? I don’t see any value to our students in having teachers out of the classroom more than they already are, but, but that would have nothing to do with changes to the calendar and you should perhaps start a new thread advocating for such workplace benefits.

In the meantime, while discussing an important proposal aimed at addressing affordability, I would suggest you consider the following:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/10/03/number-of-jobless-fairfax-residents-up-nearly-28-over-2024-as-more-uncertainty-looms/

Straight out of your article:

"Unemployment figures for Virginia localities and metro areas are reported a month after being compiled. The August figures came out the same day the federal government entered a partial shutdown as Congress failed to agree on a spending plan at the start of the fiscal year."

And here I thought you were advocating for the house cleaners and retail employees?

I’m for all families for whom the cost of childcare is being needlessly driven up by FCPS. Yes its the retain employees, it’s also the VA nurses and the TSA workers who are part of the federal government. What do you think the school board should do to reduce the childcare burden on Fairfax families?

I personally don’t believe any school board/public school system has a responsibility to reduce the cost of private childcare for anyone.

+1000, the responsibility is not on the school board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, let me get ahead of your response!

Go ahead and relook at the calendar. All 7 FEDERAL holidays that fall during the school year are holidays for staff members as well.

Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day, MLK, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth.

All FEDERAL holidays, all holidays for teachers.

Indigenous People’s Day (not a federal holiday), not a holiday for teachers.

Pretty simple really.

+1 and it’s really the only “holiday” they will ever put a TW/SD on. They will never use federal holidays for TW/SD. So the suggestion to put teacher workdays on federal or religious holidays is mind-numbingly stupid.

Lol. Ever?

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/VAEDUFCPS/2022/08/10/file_attachments/2241360/2022-2023-standard-school-year-calendar%20%282%29.pdf

Or is Veterans Day also not a federal holiday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing: if they create more 5-day school weeks the school year will start later and/or end sooner. Either scenario is fine with me, but childcare will be needed when school is not in session. That's the financial side of things. And with the amount of advanced notice families have had to get childcare lined up - calendars published years in advance - only emergencies and snow days are not known ahead of time for planning.

Or they could remove the extra week of winter break like other school districts.

You’ll have to pry that two week winter break from my cold, dead hands. I can assure you that’s not going to happen.

It should happen!!

Mmkay. It won’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[i]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d be happy enough with the 26-27 calendar as is, as long as the dumb 3 hour early releases are going the way of the dodo. My kids’ ES has given up on any instruction on those days. They use them for class test makeups if a kid was sick and then spend the rest of the time for all the other kids on “team building activities” and playing games. Meanwhile SOL’s are sneaking up on us … only March, April, and maybe a week of May left to go and we have to get through spring break in there …

My guess is, if they can get rid of the early release, Meren can declare victory. It’s an intensely unpopular policy.

Hopefully, they can draw some guidelines for commonsense reformed to the calendar going forward: TW/SD days only permitted on Monday or Friday, teacher training moved virtual and carried out to some extent during snow days, TW days layered on top of either federal or religious holidays, whichever makes more sense.

None of your ideas make sense and/or are feasible. Get real.

TW/PD on a Friday? Never going to happen. Fridays are not productive. No one ever schedules meetings for Friday afternoons. By then, teachers are exhausted.

Virtual teacher training on snow days. doesn’t make sense as teachers’ own children would be at home. A snow day means teachers are off period.

TW on a religious or federal holiday? I don’t think so.

From the perspective of a normal professional adult who is also a parent, professional expectations in 2026 include working five day weeks (even Friday!) teleworking in inclement weather (even if children are home) and not having every religious or federal holiday as PTO. I believe our teachers are professional adults who can adapt to higher professional expectations to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sheeesh, what 19th century boss do you have?!

Professional expectations in 2026 also include unlimited PTO, full time remote work, and a focus on mental health outside of work. Sorry your company hasn’t gotten with the times of R.O.W.E.

Very few jobs offer unlimited PTO and full time remote work. I worked for a company with “unlimited PTO” and the people who took that literally ended up being counseled and then fired. Every contract has a number of hours that employees have to work, drop under that and you are gone. Any contract where you have deadlines or work in teams will have limits on the amount of PTO you can take.

Most of the world reverted to at least hybrid if not full time office after COVID. There are some remote jobs but they are hard to find.

The normal work environment is still 9-5 in the office. You can work to find something else but it isn’t easy.

A bunch of opinion based generalizations here.

“Very few jobs offer unlimited PTO”

In my sector, pharmaceuticals, it’s pretty common. In fact my last 3 companies (severance, merger, promotion) have all offered unlimited PTO. I’ve been approached by multiple competitors, none have any verbiage about contract hours etc. I work on a team and have deadlines, as long as my work is submitted by the deadline, they could care less when and where I do it. As professionals, we have the freedom and the ability to plan our meetings when it works for us.

I think there’s some confusion about what a ROWE workplace is. This may not be common in your sector unfortunately, but it’s very common in others. I’d encourage you to explore better opportunities where the company prioritizes your happiness and mental health as much as they do your work. They’re out there!

I have worked for pretty much every major Defense Contractor in the area. One offered unlimited PTO and they started that 3 years ago. Two people on my team were let go for abusing said policy within a year. You work in a sector that offers it but most don't. I promise you that the parents working retail jobs and house cleaning and other blue collar jobs were they are working for a company do not have remote work and unlimited PTO.

"This may not be common in your sector unfortunately"

Reading comprehension is key.

Obviously retail jobs and house cleaning and other blue collar jobs do not have remote work and unlimited PTO. McDonalds doesn't offer remote work either, shocker. Those aren't ROWE workplaces (mainly a corporate term), and most of them are not 9-5s either, everyone knows that...

As sure as we both are of that, I'm also sure that there are countless corporate accounting, marketing, and engineering jobs (white collar) that are remote with unlimited PTO. The median household income in Fairfax County (census.gov) is north of $150k with the average person making $70k+. Those aren't retail employees or house cleaners...

Are you suggesting that FCPS is or should be an ROWE employer? I don’t see any value to our students in having teachers out of the classroom more than they already are, but, but that would have nothing to do with changes to the calendar and you should perhaps start a new thread advocating for such workplace benefits.

In the meantime, while discussing an important proposal aimed at addressing affordability, I would suggest you consider the following:

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/10/03/number-of-jobless-fairfax-residents-up-nearly-28-over-2024-as-more-uncertainty-looms/

Straight out of your article:

"Unemployment figures for Virginia localities and metro areas are reported a month after being compiled. The August figures came out the same day the federal government entered a partial shutdown as Congress failed to agree on a spending plan at the start of the fiscal year."

And here I thought you were advocating for the house cleaners and retail employees?

I’m for all families for whom the cost of childcare is being needlessly driven up by FCPS. Yes its the retain employees, it’s also the VA nurses and the TSA workers who are part of the federal government. What do you think the school board should do to reduce the childcare burden on Fairfax families?

I personally don’t believe any school board/public school system has a responsibility to reduce the cost of private childcare for anyone.

+1000, the responsibility is not on the school board.

So the board members who believe it is, and their constituents who believe it is, should just do nothing? This is an elected board. They need to be responsive to what their constituents want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Melanie Meren just posted this on Facebook:

The School Board has heard from many families regarding the lack of full, five-day school weeks this year and the significant burden this places on families who must navigate complex and often costly childcare arrangements. In the 2025-26 school year alone, partial weeks occurred more than half the time, functioning as an informal “childcare tax” that falls hardest on our hourly-wage and most vulnerable households.
To address these challenges, I am collaborating on a new draft policy to be circulated among my School Board colleagues that aims to consolidate overlapping directives into a single, unified framework. A primary goal is to prioritize five-day school weeks as the default standard to restore instructional continuity and provide families with stability they need.
Another goal is to clarify the Superintendent’s responsibilities in developing the student calendar while ensuring the School Board reviews and approves it as part of our annual work cycle.
My goal is to have the calendar beginning in SY 26-27 adjusted to increase the number of five-day school weeks.
I’ll keep the community updated as work proceeds.
Sincerely,
Melanie

So, reach out to your Board and have your opinions heard! Don't wait for some dumb and poorly designed survey to land in your spam folder.

Nope, not going to spend my time advocating on a calendar that 1) is already decided and 2) is an improvement over this years.

Hi Gatehouse!

Please grow up.

[Anonymous]

I’m just imagining the website updates.

“We had the chance to save Fairfax households hundreds of thousands of dollars this year, amid record levels of county unemployment and rising cost of living. The savings would have come no additional cost to the taxpayers. BUT we believed a grumpy person on the Internet, who said it wasn’t our job.”

Sounds like a winner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

Right back at ya with the endless whining about days off at times you don’t like and early dismissals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

Precisely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

And it doesn’t operate around your need for a 5 day week. As long as the kids get in the required hours of instructional time I do not care. I prefer the 4 day weeks and so do a lot of parents and teachers. Your whining isn’t going to change that. Time to be a parent and deal with it.

The vast majority of kids need a 5 day school week. I don't know of any parent that prefers a 4 day week, seriously, no one I know wants a 4 day school week. It is awful for working parents and most families in the US have working parents.

The 5 day week provides stability and consistency that is needed by all kids, even HS students. If your kid is so overwhelmed with the homework in their schedule, look at altering their schedule so it is less intense. Be a parent. Stop whining about your kid needing to study for classes that you allowed them to take or even encouraged them to take.

Irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, love the non-5 day weeks. They are great. Summer is such a pain to plan, and we (and most of our friends) much prefer a day here and there, rather than additional weeks in the summer.

I agree! We love the 4 day weeks! It really helps with the sleep for middle and high schoolers.

Time to be a parent. The entire school system doesn't operate around the needs of your special child.

Right back at ya with the endless whining about days off at times you don’t like and early dismissals.

Good to know that you're against effective education.