The response to MoCo's calendar change shows why the FCPS religious holidays will never go away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you remove Federal Holidays, which are about the same in number as the religious holidays. Fixed.

And you uncouple Spring Break from Easter as a bonus, providing an annual date for Spring Break that doesn't move.

People can complain all they want that Christmas falls in Winter Break but it is a federal holiday and has been a time period for travel across the country for forever. Schools would be shut due to lack of attendance and teachers and staff if it wasn't off. There are no other holidays were that would be the case.

There are 11 federal holidays:

- Independence Day and Juneteenth fall outside of the school year.
- Labor Day (plus the Friday) is mandated by VA law.
- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are untouchable, and I'd argue Memorial Day also.
- Columbus is already used as a teacher workday.
- So, only MLK, Presidents, and Veterans Days are viable school days.

Of the surrounding districts (Arl, Falls Church City, Prince William, Loudoun), the only one that has school on any of those three days is Loudoun for Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving doesn’t require 3 days. Make the Weds or the Fri a teacher work day.

Christmas does not require two weeks. Make 23rd a teacher work/training day.

Memorial Day does not require three days. Make one a work day.

Teacher should be allowed to work remotely on their workdays and training should be available online.

There, got rid of three days off and didn’t upset anybody/disenfranchise any religion.

Majority of the TW are timed around the end of a quarter. Nit picking a few days off the calendar isn’t going to fix that. It would be more effective to time quarters around existing breaks. For example, Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break could have been TW/SD days instead of tracking them onto the following week.

Looking at FCPS calendar, the pattern seems to be that there is a TW day at the end of each quarter (presumably for grading, and finalizing the gradebook) and 1 TW and one SD or SP day during each quarter, allowing for teachers to plan.

You could move those days to non-religious holiday days, I guess, but it wouldn't change the fact that teachers need days to plan, and that those days need to be distributed throughout the quarter, not clustered. If this doesn't seem obvious to you, I'd ask you this. How does it work in your job? When you have time when your client isn't present. Perhaps you're creating documents, reviewing documents, or meeting with colleagues. Are those kinds of tasks clustered, or do you have time to do that every single month that you work? Are you asked to do things in illogical sequence, or do you generally get to gather data before you analyze it? Or plan meetings with clients after you already held the meetings? Because that is what people seem to think teachers should do.

They can be distributed through the quarter without adding more holes to the calendar. Indigenous peoples day is a great example.

Indigenous people day is a great example of what?

Using the calendar to provide TW days on days students are already out of the classroom, not adding more disruption.

What day in late February are you proposing be used in that way?

Also, do you work federal holidays, or are you just expecting that teachers do so?

I work some of the Federal holidays— and I don’t for example get 3 days for Thanksgiving.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize *students* not teachers. It’s embarrassing how few people seem to realize that.

It does prioritize students. It is better to have a shorter summer break. More breaks during the school year allow for a shorter summer. I wish we could move to a year-round school year, but, until others jump on board with that plan, we are stuck with this. Remember -- you only get 180 days of school.

180 days is not the problem. My kids’ summer is when they do the most learning— travel, real enrichment, etc. Specialized camps used to run 12 weeks in the summer.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:So you remove Federal Holidays, which are about the same in number as the religious holidays. Fixed.

And you uncouple Spring Break from Easter as a bonus, providing an annual date for Spring Break that doesn't move.

People can complain all they want that Christmas falls in Winter Break but it is a federal holiday and has been a time period for travel across the country for forever. Schools would be shut due to lack of attendance and teachers and staff if it wasn't off. There are no other holidays were that would be the case.

There are 11 federal holidays:

- Independence Day and Juneteenth fall outside of the school year.
- Labor Day (plus the Friday) is mandated by VA law.
- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are untouchable, and I'd argue Memorial Day also.
- Columbus is already used as a teacher workday.
- So, only MLK, Presidents, and Veterans Days are viable school days.

Of the surrounding districts (Arl, Falls Church City, Prince William, Loudoun), the only one that has school on any of those three days is Loudoun for Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving doesn’t require 3 days. Make the Weds or the Fri a teacher work day.

Christmas does not require two weeks. Make 23rd a teacher work/training day.

Memorial Day does not require three days. Make one a work day.

Teacher should be allowed to work remotely on their workdays and training should be available online.

There, got rid of three days off and didn’t upset anybody/disenfranchise any religion.

Majority of the TW are timed around the end of a quarter. Nit picking a few days off the calendar isn’t going to fix that. It would be more effective to time quarters around existing breaks. For example, Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break could have been TW/SD days instead of tracking them onto the following week.

Looking at FCPS calendar, the pattern seems to be that there is a TW day at the end of each quarter (presumably for grading, and finalizing the gradebook) and 1 TW and one SD or SP day during each quarter, allowing for teachers to plan.

You could move those days to non-religious holiday days, I guess, but it wouldn't change the fact that teachers need days to plan, and that those days need to be distributed throughout the quarter, not clustered. If this doesn't seem obvious to you, I'd ask you this. How does it work in your job? When you have time when your client isn't present. Perhaps you're creating documents, reviewing documents, or meeting with colleagues. Are those kinds of tasks clustered, or do you have time to do that every single month that you work? Are you asked to do things in illogical sequence, or do you generally get to gather data before you analyze it? Or plan meetings with clients after you already held the meetings? Because that is what people seem to think teachers should do.

They can be distributed through the quarter without adding more holes to the calendar. Indigenous peoples day is a great example.

Indigenous people day is a great example of what?

Using the calendar to provide TW days on days students are already out of the classroom, not adding more disruption.

What day in late February are you proposing be used in that way?

Also, do you work federal holidays, or are you just expecting that teachers do so?

I work some of the Federal holidays— and I don’t for example get 3 days for Thanksgiving.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize *students* not teachers. It’s embarrassing how few people seem to realize that.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize instruction. Providing decent working conditions so that they can do their job, and so that they don't quit is an important part of that.

It's embarrassing how many people think that it's a zero sum gain, and that driving teachers away from the profession is somehow to the benefits of students.

“Decent working conditions” don’t require monthly half days. You’ll notice how other professionals don’t receive half days and how teachers were employed in Fairfax in 2023.

The entitlement of treating a five day workweek like a Dickensian workhouse…

We are talking about the scheduling of teacher work days. These aren't days off for teachers.

Decent working conditions means you get a significant portion of your work done during the hours you are scheduled to work.

Why didn’t OSHA close FCPS in 2023 if the working conditions were “indecent”? Why is LCPS still allowed to work with these “indecent conditions”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you remove Federal Holidays, which are about the same in number as the religious holidays. Fixed.

And you uncouple Spring Break from Easter as a bonus, providing an annual date for Spring Break that doesn't move.

People can complain all they want that Christmas falls in Winter Break but it is a federal holiday and has been a time period for travel across the country for forever. Schools would be shut due to lack of attendance and teachers and staff if it wasn't off. There are no other holidays were that would be the case.

There are 11 federal holidays:

- Independence Day and Juneteenth fall outside of the school year.
- Labor Day (plus the Friday) is mandated by VA law.
- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are untouchable, and I'd argue Memorial Day also.
- Columbus is already used as a teacher workday.
- So, only MLK, Presidents, and Veterans Days are viable school days.

Of the surrounding districts (Arl, Falls Church City, Prince William, Loudoun), the only one that has school on any of those three days is Loudoun for Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving doesn’t require 3 days. Make the Weds or the Fri a teacher work day.

Christmas does not require two weeks. Make 23rd a teacher work/training day.

Memorial Day does not require three days. Make one a work day.

Teacher should be allowed to work remotely on their workdays and training should be available online.

There, got rid of three days off and didn’t upset anybody/disenfranchise any religion.

Majority of the TW are timed around the end of a quarter. Nit picking a few days off the calendar isn’t going to fix that. It would be more effective to time quarters around existing breaks. For example, Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break could have been TW/SD days instead of tracking them onto the following week.

Looking at FCPS calendar, the pattern seems to be that there is a TW day at the end of each quarter (presumably for grading, and finalizing the gradebook) and 1 TW and one SD or SP day during each quarter, allowing for teachers to plan.

You could move those days to non-religious holiday days, I guess, but it wouldn't change the fact that teachers need days to plan, and that those days need to be distributed throughout the quarter, not clustered. If this doesn't seem obvious to you, I'd ask you this. How does it work in your job? When you have time when your client isn't present. Perhaps you're creating documents, reviewing documents, or meeting with colleagues. Are those kinds of tasks clustered, or do you have time to do that every single month that you work? Are you asked to do things in illogical sequence, or do you generally get to gather data before you analyze it? Or plan meetings with clients after you already held the meetings? Because that is what people seem to think teachers should do.

They can be distributed through the quarter without adding more holes to the calendar. Indigenous peoples day is a great example.

Indigenous people day is a great example of what?

Using the calendar to provide TW days on days students are already out of the classroom, not adding more disruption.

What day in late February are you proposing be used in that way?

Also, do you work federal holidays, or are you just expecting that teachers do so?

I worked Federal Holidays when I didn’t support the Fed Govetrnment. Most people aroind the country work on Federal Holidays, except for the big ones, labor day, memorial day, fourth of July, and Thanksgiving. You could even argue that a large percentage of the country works on Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years Eve. So yes, Teachers can work on federal holidays, they do in other counties in Virginia and across the US.

Our area is a bit different because so many people work for the Federal Government or support the Federal Government that a lrge percentage of population have the day off.

Why do you want your kids to work an adult schedule so young? Or is it just that it is hard for YOU? Breaks help kids learn more.

Kids need consistency. 5 day school weeks help with repetition and reinforce what they are learning. Kids with learning difficulties or difficulties at home benefit from being in class consistently. My schedule is flexible and my husband works from home. We can cover the off days with no problem. I just think the schedule is awful for kids. And it stretches out the school year in a ridiculous way that makes some of the summer choices more challenging. My kid would have more summer options if we got out earlier, which would be nice but is not driving my thoughts.

This disjointed 3 and 4 day weeks is amazingly awful.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:So you remove Federal Holidays, which are about the same in number as the religious holidays. Fixed.

And you uncouple Spring Break from Easter as a bonus, providing an annual date for Spring Break that doesn't move.

People can complain all they want that Christmas falls in Winter Break but it is a federal holiday and has been a time period for travel across the country for forever. Schools would be shut due to lack of attendance and teachers and staff if it wasn't off. There are no other holidays were that would be the case.

There are 11 federal holidays:

- Independence Day and Juneteenth fall outside of the school year.
- Labor Day (plus the Friday) is mandated by VA law.
- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are untouchable, and I'd argue Memorial Day also.
- Columbus is already used as a teacher workday.
- So, only MLK, Presidents, and Veterans Days are viable school days.

Of the surrounding districts (Arl, Falls Church City, Prince William, Loudoun), the only one that has school on any of those three days is Loudoun for Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving doesn’t require 3 days. Make the Weds or the Fri a teacher work day.

Christmas does not require two weeks. Make 23rd a teacher work/training day.

Memorial Day does not require three days. Make one a work day.

Teacher should be allowed to work remotely on their workdays and training should be available online.

There, got rid of three days off and didn’t upset anybody/disenfranchise any religion.

Majority of the TW are timed around the end of a quarter. Nit picking a few days off the calendar isn’t going to fix that. It would be more effective to time quarters around existing breaks. For example, Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break could have been TW/SD days instead of tracking them onto the following week.

Looking at FCPS calendar, the pattern seems to be that there is a TW day at the end of each quarter (presumably for grading, and finalizing the gradebook) and 1 TW and one SD or SP day during each quarter, allowing for teachers to plan.

You could move those days to non-religious holiday days, I guess, but it wouldn't change the fact that teachers need days to plan, and that those days need to be distributed throughout the quarter, not clustered. If this doesn't seem obvious to you, I'd ask you this. How does it work in your job? When you have time when your client isn't present. Perhaps you're creating documents, reviewing documents, or meeting with colleagues. Are those kinds of tasks clustered, or do you have time to do that every single month that you work? Are you asked to do things in illogical sequence, or do you generally get to gather data before you analyze it? Or plan meetings with clients after you already held the meetings? Because that is what people seem to think teachers should do.

They can be distributed through the quarter without adding more holes to the calendar. Indigenous peoples day is a great example.

Indigenous people day is a great example of what?

Using the calendar to provide TW days on days students are already out of the classroom, not adding more disruption.

What day in late February are you proposing be used in that way?

Also, do you work federal holidays, or are you just expecting that teachers do so?

I work some of the Federal holidays— and I don’t for example get 3 days for Thanksgiving.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize *students* not teachers. It’s embarrassing how few people seem to realize that.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize instruction. Providing decent working conditions so that they can do their job, and so that they don't quit is an important part of that.

It's embarrassing how many people think that it's a zero sum gain, and that driving teachers away from the profession is somehow to the benefits of students.

“Decent working conditions” don’t require monthly half days. You’ll notice how other professionals don’t receive half days and how teachers were employed in Fairfax in 2023.

The entitlement of treating a five day workweek like a Dickensian workhouse…

We are talking about the scheduling of teacher work days. These aren't days off for teachers.

Decent working conditions means you get a significant portion of your work done during the hours you are scheduled to work.

Aren’t you embarrassed that your students’ parents who are construction workers, sanitation workers, etc read you here talking about five day workweeks being “indecent conditions”? Have you really that little shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We haven't had a new calendar thread in a few hours, so I thought that I better pick up the slack.

Our sister district across the river is struggling with making up snow days, and they are proposing to use Eid al-Fitr to accomplish that. Obviously, that is rubbing some people the wrong way.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/02/15/muslim-holiday-makeup-day-backlash/

Zainab Chaudry, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Maryland, said Eid al-Fitr should be granted the same respect as Judeo-Christian holidays like Yom Kippur and Easter, which are designated non-instruction days in both school districts. Chaudry said it is unfair to put families in the position of choosing between religious observance and school instruction.

She called on the districts to amend their makeup plans.

“Our holidays are not expendable. Our communities do not get to decide whether or not they want to observe the holiday based on circumstances beyond their control, including the weather,” Chaudry said. “Our communities deserve the same level of dignity and respect as all other communities.”

...

Glass said he has been in contact with members of Maryland’s legislature, and is urging for a change that could prevent religious holidays from being used to make up for lost instructional time.


In other words, the calendar isn't going to change. The only realistic days to remove (based on the 25/26 and 26/27 calendars) are Veterans Day and Presidents Day. The next options are the paired Teacher Workday and Staff Development/School Planning days at the end of each Quarter. It is pointless to advocate for the removal of some or all religious holidays.

Muslims who came to America (or converted before having children) simply skipped school for Eid for decades without kicking up a fuss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We haven't had a new calendar thread in a few hours, so I thought that I better pick up the slack.

Our sister district across the river is struggling with making up snow days, and they are proposing to use Eid al-Fitr to accomplish that. Obviously, that is rubbing some people the wrong way.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/02/15/muslim-holiday-makeup-day-backlash/

Zainab Chaudry, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Maryland, said Eid al-Fitr should be granted the same respect as Judeo-Christian holidays like Yom Kippur and Easter, which are designated non-instruction days in both school districts. Chaudry said it is unfair to put families in the position of choosing between religious observance and school instruction.

She called on the districts to amend their makeup plans.

“Our holidays are not expendable. Our communities do not get to decide whether or not they want to observe the holiday based on circumstances beyond their control, including the weather,” Chaudry said. “Our communities deserve the same level of dignity and respect as all other communities.”

...

Glass said he has been in contact with members of Maryland’s legislature, and is urging for a change that could prevent religious holidays from being used to make up for lost instructional time.


In other words, the calendar isn't going to change. The only realistic days to remove (based on the 25/26 and 26/27 calendars) are Veterans Day and Presidents Day. The next options are the paired Teacher Workday and Staff Development/School Planning days at the end of each Quarter. It is pointless to advocate for the removal of some or all religious holidays.

Muslims who came to America (or converted before having children) simply skipped school for Eid for decades without kicking up a fuss.

pp here:

But they would be silly not to do so now since conditions are favorable to bend society a bit.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you remove Federal Holidays, which are about the same in number as the religious holidays. Fixed.

And you uncouple Spring Break from Easter as a bonus, providing an annual date for Spring Break that doesn't move.

People can complain all they want that Christmas falls in Winter Break but it is a federal holiday and has been a time period for travel across the country for forever. Schools would be shut due to lack of attendance and teachers and staff if it wasn't off. There are no other holidays were that would be the case.

There are 11 federal holidays:

- Independence Day and Juneteenth fall outside of the school year.
- Labor Day (plus the Friday) is mandated by VA law.
- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are untouchable, and I'd argue Memorial Day also.
- Columbus is already used as a teacher workday.
- So, only MLK, Presidents, and Veterans Days are viable school days.

Of the surrounding districts (Arl, Falls Church City, Prince William, Loudoun), the only one that has school on any of those three days is Loudoun for Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving doesn’t require 3 days. Make the Weds or the Fri a teacher work day.

Christmas does not require two weeks. Make 23rd a teacher work/training day.

Memorial Day does not require three days. Make one a work day.

Teacher should be allowed to work remotely on their workdays and training should be available online.

There, got rid of three days off and didn’t upset anybody/disenfranchise any religion.

Majority of the TW are timed around the end of a quarter. Nit picking a few days off the calendar isn’t going to fix that. It would be more effective to time quarters around existing breaks. For example, Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break could have been TW/SD days instead of tracking them onto the following week.

Looking at FCPS calendar, the pattern seems to be that there is a TW day at the end of each quarter (presumably for grading, and finalizing the gradebook) and 1 TW and one SD or SP day during each quarter, allowing for teachers to plan.

You could move those days to non-religious holiday days, I guess, but it wouldn't change the fact that teachers need days to plan, and that those days need to be distributed throughout the quarter, not clustered. If this doesn't seem obvious to you, I'd ask you this. How does it work in your job? When you have time when your client isn't present. Perhaps you're creating documents, reviewing documents, or meeting with colleagues. Are those kinds of tasks clustered, or do you have time to do that every single month that you work? Are you asked to do things in illogical sequence, or do you generally get to gather data before you analyze it? Or plan meetings with clients after you already held the meetings? Because that is what people seem to think teachers should do.

They can be distributed through the quarter without adding more holes to the calendar. Indigenous peoples day is a great example.

Indigenous people day is a great example of what?

Using the calendar to provide TW days on days students are already out of the classroom, not adding more disruption.

What day in late February are you proposing be used in that way?

Also, do you work federal holidays, or are you just expecting that teachers do so?

I work some of the Federal holidays— and I don’t for example get 3 days for Thanksgiving.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize *students* not teachers. It’s embarrassing how few people seem to realize that.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize instruction. Providing decent working conditions so that they can do their job, and so that they don't quit is an important part of that.

It's embarrassing how many people think that it's a zero sum gain, and that driving teachers away from the profession is somehow to the benefits of students.

“Decent working conditions” don’t require monthly half days. You’ll notice how other professionals don’t receive half days and how teachers were employed in Fairfax in 2023.

The entitlement of treating a five day workweek like a Dickensian workhouse…

We are talking about the scheduling of teacher work days. These aren't days off for teachers.

Decent working conditions means you get a significant portion of your work done during the hours you are scheduled to work.

Aren’t you embarrassed that your students’ parents who are construction workers, sanitation workers, etc read you here talking about five day workweeks being “indecent conditions”? Have you really that little shame.

I didn't use the term indecent conditions.

My family members who work in construction are paid for every hour they work. They understand that a day when you are completing paperwork is still a work day, and that a teacher who teaches 4 days and spends a 5th day on training and/or paperwork is working a 5 day workweek.

[Anonymous]

Follow the federal govt holidays that's it no reason to make this a big deal. If there is a religious holiday that doesn't align students can have their parents call in an excused absence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not have some "floating" excused absences allowed for staff or students -- when it corresponds to religious holidays. But otherwise, keep the academic calendar rigorous with few days off.

Yes there will be some "honoring" of a religious holiday when the student doesn't actually practice that religion, some taking advantage. But it's got to be better than everyone being off from school for every conceivable religious holiday -- it's only going to worse (more religions, more holidays) going forward.

As a special ed teacher - whatever the last year it was that we had school on Eid, it was a mess that bordered on dangerous. We had late buses/ substitute bus drivers, unfamiliar bus attendants, many of our IAs were out…for the students who need significant adult support throughout the school day, all of our staff being available is essential!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not have some "floating" excused absences allowed for staff or students -- when it corresponds to religious holidays. But otherwise, keep the academic calendar rigorous with few days off.

Yes there will be some "honoring" of a religious holiday when the student doesn't actually practice that religion, some taking advantage. But it's got to be better than everyone being off from school for every conceivable religious holiday -- it's only going to worse (more religions, more holidays) going forward.

As a special ed teacher - whatever the last year it was that we had school on Eid, it was a mess that bordered on dangerous. We had late buses/ substitute bus drivers, unfamiliar bus attendants, many of our IAs were out…for the students who need significant adult support throughout the school day, all of our staff being available is essential!

I mean I’ve said this all along, they have those days off because of severe staffing issues and shortages. But people on here will swear up and down that has nothing to do with it …

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you remove Federal Holidays, which are about the same in number as the religious holidays. Fixed.

And you uncouple Spring Break from Easter as a bonus, providing an annual date for Spring Break that doesn't move.

People can complain all they want that Christmas falls in Winter Break but it is a federal holiday and has been a time period for travel across the country for forever. Schools would be shut due to lack of attendance and teachers and staff if it wasn't off. There are no other holidays were that would be the case.

There are 11 federal holidays:

- Independence Day and Juneteenth fall outside of the school year.
- Labor Day (plus the Friday) is mandated by VA law.
- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are untouchable, and I'd argue Memorial Day also.
- Columbus is already used as a teacher workday.
- So, only MLK, Presidents, and Veterans Days are viable school days.

Of the surrounding districts (Arl, Falls Church City, Prince William, Loudoun), the only one that has school on any of those three days is Loudoun for Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving doesn’t require 3 days. Make the Weds or the Fri a teacher work day.

Christmas does not require two weeks. Make 23rd a teacher work/training day.

Memorial Day does not require three days. Make one a work day.

Teacher should be allowed to work remotely on their workdays and training should be available online.

There, got rid of three days off and didn’t upset anybody/disenfranchise any religion.

Majority of the TW are timed around the end of a quarter. Nit picking a few days off the calendar isn’t going to fix that. It would be more effective to time quarters around existing breaks. For example, Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break could have been TW/SD days instead of tracking them onto the following week.

Looking at FCPS calendar, the pattern seems to be that there is a TW day at the end of each quarter (presumably for grading, and finalizing the gradebook) and 1 TW and one SD or SP day during each quarter, allowing for teachers to plan.

You could move those days to non-religious holiday days, I guess, but it wouldn't change the fact that teachers need days to plan, and that those days need to be distributed throughout the quarter, not clustered. If this doesn't seem obvious to you, I'd ask you this. How does it work in your job? When you have time when your client isn't present. Perhaps you're creating documents, reviewing documents, or meeting with colleagues. Are those kinds of tasks clustered, or do you have time to do that every single month that you work? Are you asked to do things in illogical sequence, or do you generally get to gather data before you analyze it? Or plan meetings with clients after you already held the meetings? Because that is what people seem to think teachers should do.

They can be distributed through the quarter without adding more holes to the calendar. Indigenous peoples day is a great example.

Indigenous people day is a great example of what?

Using the calendar to provide TW days on days students are already out of the classroom, not adding more disruption.

What day in late February are you proposing be used in that way?

Also, do you work federal holidays, or are you just expecting that teachers do so?

I worked Federal Holidays when I didn’t support the Fed Govetrnment. Most people aroind the country work on Federal Holidays, except for the big ones, labor day, memorial day, fourth of July, and Thanksgiving. You could even argue that a large percentage of the country works on Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years Eve. So yes, Teachers can work on federal holidays, they do in other counties in Virginia and across the US.

Our area is a bit different because so many people work for the Federal Government or support the Federal Government that a lrge percentage of population have the day off.

Why do you want your kids to work an adult schedule so young? Or is it just that it is hard for YOU? Breaks help kids learn more.

Actually for younger elementary, repetition and routine is much more important than “breaks”. The school year can provide sufficient breaks without being disjointed and irregular.

Actually no. Please link to some studies to back that up.

I mean you don’t replicate the school day on the weekends because your kids can’t handle the routine change. They are smarter than that. Young kids don’t need that much time in large group settings. Historically preschool was 2-3 days a week part time, Kindergarten was part time and kids only really started school in first grade.

Kids do learn better with breaks. Honestly, you probably do your job better with breaks too. Humans need breaks. Lobbying for that rather than want your kids to emulate the working world would be a better use of time.

If you’re unaware of the literature on routine and repetition in elementary education that’s willful on your part. Weekends *are* part of routine: you probably go to the same religious practice or the same sport for weeks on end.

Do you have strong need for routine? Because you are taking this to an unpacked extreme. If weekends “are’ part of routine, the kids can see that sometimes the routine is different and you can have a longer weekend. Just like sometimes there is summer and sometimes there are special events like field trips, or trips to a museum, or going to a friends house.

The “need’ for routine in elementary is about having a pattern to a lesson so the kids know what to expect WITHIN a lesson. (Warm up, objectives, whole group lesson, practice, wrap up). Not that the daily schedule must be followed the same way every day.

Again, links because your take on this is extreme.

[Anonymous]

Here is a straightforward calendar from a state/metropolitan area with a diverse population https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1756930407/mplsk12mnus/ge5clwh0shgydwvthwbs/SYCalendar-English-2026-27.pdf

Put it out there and if people don’t like it there is always private school, home school, or excused absences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not have some "floating" excused absences allowed for staff or students -- when it corresponds to religious holidays. But otherwise, keep the academic calendar rigorous with few days off.

Yes there will be some "honoring" of a religious holiday when the student doesn't actually practice that religion, some taking advantage. But it's got to be better than everyone being off from school for every conceivable religious holiday -- it's only going to worse (more religions, more holidays) going forward.

This is the only viable solution.

Federal holidays off.

December 23-jan 1 off like it used to be.

Spring break decoupled form Easter.

3 free days for personal religious holidays.

If one of those religious holidays hits 30% absences or higher, put it on the calendar next year, not because it is religious but because it is a secular staffing problem.

There should be zero days off for holidays that don't have a fixed set days 1 year out.

The Eid AP exam debacle from a few years back due to the last minute floating date change of Eid was completely unacceptable. Not only was there so much last minute uncertainty over the dates, the cancelation then uncanceling then keeping the wrong Eid date canceled but not the actual date unfairly disrupted learning from everyone else, took away the make up date option from kids who could make the 2nd date of the test since the original date was canceled, and required every student in the district to acknowledge a religion, whether or not they were from that faith tradition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a cultural Catholic, and think it's extremely disrespectful to use other religions' Holy Days without also using Christian Holy Days.

This would all be solved if we had year-round school, with large breaks in every season. It would reduce brain drain. Daycare and camps would adjust to offering care for the 4 large breaks throughout the year. And it would mean people with means could spread out their travel across four seasons, which is so much nicer than cramming everything during the hot summer months. And people wouldn't get so distressed over missing a few days of school for weather...

I am Catholic and looking at the FCPS calendar right now.

Here is what I see:

Christmas, Easter, and Good Friday (the three holiest days for Catholics) are all off and clearly labeled. Long breaks are built around them, so that families can travel.

I then looked at Holy Days of Obligation

All Saints Day/Dios los Muertes (Nov 1) is labeled, but was on a Saturday this school year, so it's not taken off. The Holy Day was also abrogated for the same reason.

The Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8) is an O day, which would allow for people to attend Mass, but is listed as Bodhi Day

The Solemnity of Mary (Jan 1) is off, but is listed as New Year's Day

I then looked at other days of religious significance

Christmas Eve (No religious obligation during school hours, but culturally a day that many Catholics gather and celebrate) is off but unlabeled

Epiphany/Three Kings Day is labeled as an O Day

Ash Wednesday (Jan 18) is an O day

Easter Monday (April 6) (also no religious obligation, but a day when many Catholics like to have off) is not labeled but is a TW work day.

I will also note that none of the O days are days that Catholic schools take off, so while All Saints, Ash Wednesday and Epiphany and Immaculate Conception are important to Catholics, they aren't days that Catholics are expected to miss work or school.

How is this Catholics being discriminated against? Can you please explain to me? Which other religions get more than this?

None of those days except for Christmas are given off to accommodate Catholics.

Ash Wednesday was only added as an acknowledgement on the calendar a couple of years ago after the year that FCPS sent multiple weekly Ramadan recognition emails each week from multiple accounts (school level, superintendent level and multiple school board members) for the entire month of Ramadan, without a single mention of Lent, Passover or any of the Christian holy days like Ash Wednesday occuring at the exact same time. Their answer to the bias complaints was to list Ash Wednesday on the calendar, but not Lent.

Catholics don't take off Easter Monday or Good Friday, and they don't schedule spring break over Holy Week. The day off, plus spring break tied to Easter, is some weird northern Virginia thing, not a Catholic thing.

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Anonymous wrote:So you remove Federal Holidays, which are about the same in number as the religious holidays. Fixed.

And you uncouple Spring Break from Easter as a bonus, providing an annual date for Spring Break that doesn't move.

People can complain all they want that Christmas falls in Winter Break but it is a federal holiday and has been a time period for travel across the country for forever. Schools would be shut due to lack of attendance and teachers and staff if it wasn't off. There are no other holidays were that would be the case.

There are 11 federal holidays:

- Independence Day and Juneteenth fall outside of the school year.
- Labor Day (plus the Friday) is mandated by VA law.
- Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years are untouchable, and I'd argue Memorial Day also.
- Columbus is already used as a teacher workday.
- So, only MLK, Presidents, and Veterans Days are viable school days.

Of the surrounding districts (Arl, Falls Church City, Prince William, Loudoun), the only one that has school on any of those three days is Loudoun for Veterans Day.

Thanksgiving doesn’t require 3 days. Make the Weds or the Fri a teacher work day.

Christmas does not require two weeks. Make 23rd a teacher work/training day.

Memorial Day does not require three days. Make one a work day.

Teacher should be allowed to work remotely on their workdays and training should be available online.

There, got rid of three days off and didn’t upset anybody/disenfranchise any religion.

Majority of the TW are timed around the end of a quarter. Nit picking a few days off the calendar isn’t going to fix that. It would be more effective to time quarters around existing breaks. For example, Monday and Tuesday of Spring Break could have been TW/SD days instead of tracking them onto the following week.

Looking at FCPS calendar, the pattern seems to be that there is a TW day at the end of each quarter (presumably for grading, and finalizing the gradebook) and 1 TW and one SD or SP day during each quarter, allowing for teachers to plan.

You could move those days to non-religious holiday days, I guess, but it wouldn't change the fact that teachers need days to plan, and that those days need to be distributed throughout the quarter, not clustered. If this doesn't seem obvious to you, I'd ask you this. How does it work in your job? When you have time when your client isn't present. Perhaps you're creating documents, reviewing documents, or meeting with colleagues. Are those kinds of tasks clustered, or do you have time to do that every single month that you work? Are you asked to do things in illogical sequence, or do you generally get to gather data before you analyze it? Or plan meetings with clients after you already held the meetings? Because that is what people seem to think teachers should do.

They can be distributed through the quarter without adding more holes to the calendar. Indigenous peoples day is a great example.

Indigenous people day is a great example of what?

Using the calendar to provide TW days on days students are already out of the classroom, not adding more disruption.

What day in late February are you proposing be used in that way?

Also, do you work federal holidays, or are you just expecting that teachers do so?

I work some of the Federal holidays— and I don’t for example get 3 days for Thanksgiving.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize *students* not teachers. It’s embarrassing how few people seem to realize that.

The schedule is supposed to prioritize instruction. Providing decent working conditions so that they can do their job, and so that they don't quit is an important part of that.

It's embarrassing how many people think that it's a zero sum gain, and that driving teachers away from the profession is somehow to the benefits of students.

“Decent working conditions” don’t require monthly half days. You’ll notice how other professionals don’t receive half days and how teachers were employed in Fairfax in 2023.

The entitlement of treating a five day workweek like a Dickensian workhouse…

We are talking about the scheduling of teacher work days. These aren't days off for teachers.

Decent working conditions means you get a significant portion of your work done during the hours you are scheduled to work.

Aren’t you embarrassed that your students’ parents who are construction workers, sanitation workers, etc read you here talking about five day workweeks being “indecent conditions”? Have you really that little shame.

I didn't use the term indecent conditions.

My family members who work in construction are paid for every hour they work. They understand that a day when you are completing paperwork is still a work day, and that a teacher who teaches 4 days and spends a 5th day on training and/or paperwork is working a 5 day workweek.

You said half days were required to offer “decent” conditions. Therefore all the many many schools in VA with the same requirements as FCPS who don’t have endless days off and early release…aren’t offering decent conditions. So why aren’t they being shut down?