APS calendar options are here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see lots of talk about Easter Monday, and yet no one here actually claims to be one of the people who actually DO celebrate it.

Also, a good 50% of the commenters seem not to realize that the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar. That means that Easter for them in about a week later in 2023. So are we going to do two Easter Monday holidays??

And if an Orthodox day of obligation is enough to cancel school, I have new for you about New Years Day, All Saint’s Day, the Ascension, the assumption, etc. All of which are holy days of obligation.

I do think we should honor both Easter dates. We have a very diverse community. We should either do no holidays unless for a secular reason or all the holidays. I do not appreciate APS making value judgments on what are worthy holidays. Let’s do them all and move to year- round school if needed to meet requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see lots of talk about Easter Monday, and yet no one here actually claims to be one of the people who actually DO celebrate it.

Also, a good 50% of the commenters seem not to realize that the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar. That means that Easter for them in about a week later in 2023. So are we going to do two Easter Monday holidays??

And if an Orthodox day of obligation is enough to cancel school, I have new for you about New Years Day, All Saint’s Day, the Ascension, the assumption, etc. All of which are holy days of obligation.

I do think we should honor both Easter dates. We have a very diverse community. We should either do no holidays unless for a secular reason or all the holidays. I do not appreciate APS making value judgments on what are worthy holidays. Let’s do them all and move to year- round school if needed to meet requirements.

I agree with this. Once we start picking a choosing which holidays to honor we wind up specifically excluding others. Do away with all religious holidays with the exception of winter break because as a nation that ship has sailed and many people celebrate it secularly. But separate spring break from Easter. Let people have excused absences. And then have more consistent school weeks for the kids and be done with it. I have family in Berkeley which is deep in equity like Arlington and this is how they deal with it.

[Anonymous]

I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

And peoples vacation deposits!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see lots of talk about Easter Monday, and yet no one here actually claims to be one of the people who actually DO celebrate it.

Also, a good 50% of the commenters seem not to realize that the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar. That means that Easter for them in about a week later in 2023. So are we going to do two Easter Monday holidays??

And if an Orthodox day of obligation is enough to cancel school, I have new for you about New Years Day, All Saint’s Day, the Ascension, the assumption, etc. All of which are holy days of obligation.

I do think we should honor both Easter dates. We have a very diverse community. We should either do no holidays unless for a secular reason or all the holidays. I do not appreciate APS making value judgments on what are worthy holidays. Let’s do them all and move to year- round school if needed to meet requirements.

I agree with this. Once we start picking a choosing which holidays to honor we wind up specifically excluding others. Do away with all religious holidays with the exception of winter break because as a nation that ship has sailed and many people celebrate it secularly. But separate spring break from Easter. Let people have excused absences. And then have more consistent school weeks for the kids and be done with it. I have family in Berkeley which is deep in equity like Arlington and this is how they deal with it.

This. Enough with wokism. Keep religion away from schools and stop messing with the calendar and our lives.

[Anonymous]

I think the best solution would be to give every employee two floating holidays and double sub pay on religious holidays to ensure decent coverage

[Anonymous]

I just read Mr AEM’s speech from school board meeting. Did he really bully someone into removing parental concerns about holidays from the board presentation? Wow. Having legitimate concerns about the holidays does not equate to antisemitism. Way to cancel parental concerns and even more shameful that his threats worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the best solution would be to give every employee two floating holidays and double sub pay on religious holidays to ensure decent coverage

I like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the bus drivers and their community celebrate Ethiopian new year and many extended workers celebrate Vietnamese New Year. We should consider adding those to the calendar. I also would like to see Good Friday and Easter Monday added. This will ensure families can celebrate those days no matter when spring break is scheduled in future. I find it offensive it’s not named on the current calendar, frankly.

We already get Easter Monday troll

Well this comment didn’t age well. Revised proposed calendar removes Easter Monday. That’s why Good Friday (holiest Christian holiday along w Easter) and Easter Monday need to be observed - it’s not guaranteed that APS will overlap spring break. Why is no one calling this out?

Why is Easter Monday necessary??? It is not a religious holiday.

I believe the rationale is usually so people who celebrate Easter can celebrate the whole holiday with family and travel home the following day.

Based on that rationale every religious holiday should get two days off. For example, I'd love to have the day after Yom Kippur off so we could observe the holiday and break the fast with family and travel the next day.

There are Christian Orthodox (yes in Arlington) who go to mass or celebrate Monday after Easter. If a holiday falls on a weekend there are many who want it the next Monday off from school. Also it is well known that there is a large Ethiopian population in DMV. Probably more than celebrate Diwali. That should def be a recognized holiday.

Perhaps APS should collect information to determine how many students actually observe each holiday and whether those observances require the day off. I'd like to know how many. I agree with the insinuation of a previous poster asking what the break-point % is for making a holiday a no-school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see lots of talk about Easter Monday, and yet no one here actually claims to be one of the people who actually DO celebrate it.

Also, a good 50% of the commenters seem not to realize that the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar. That means that Easter for them in about a week later in 2023. So are we going to do two Easter Monday holidays??

And if an Orthodox day of obligation is enough to cancel school, I have new for you about New Years Day, All Saint’s Day, the Ascension, the assumption, etc. All of which are holy days of obligation.

I do think we should honor both Easter dates. We have a very diverse community. We should either do no holidays unless for a secular reason or all the holidays. I do not appreciate APS making value judgments on what are worthy holidays. Let’s do them all and move to year- round school if needed to meet requirements.

It isn't a value judgment. It's a numbers and attendance judgement. At least, it used to be. Now it's just political show and an exaggerated sense of inclusivity and equity.
But I'm on board with year-round school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

And peoples vacation deposits!

oh, boo hoo.

[Anonymous]

My people are not being considered and there are a lot of us.

We need 12th night off, Lundi Gras, Mardi Gras and of course Ash Wednesday b/c we need to get over our hangovers and go to Church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope they do the right thing and go with Option 2. Especially after wasting everyone’s time and taxpayer money on yet another survey.

And peoples vacation deposits!

yeah lets prioritize people's recreation over instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read Mr AEM’s speech from school board meeting. Did he really bully someone into removing parental concerns about holidays from the board presentation? Wow. Having legitimate concerns about the holidays does not equate to antisemitism. Way to cancel parental concerns and even more shameful that his threats worked.

I mean I think we all know what's going on here. APE is pressuring APS to accede to its preferred calendar, which does not include time off for "those" holidays, and is upset when its tactics didn't work.