Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She wants to reopen discussion on the 2026-27 calendar?

I'm sorry, but that ship has already sailed. I do not see the school board doing the work to change what has already been decided and announced.

Best to focus efforts on the 2027-28 and beyond calendar process.

https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-04/2026-2027-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf

I would be more impressed by her if she actually had a proposal. Exactly what about the above would she change?

It’s not hard to do on paper. The following changes make the most sense:

Cancel the Yom Kippur holiday on Monday, 9/21, and change it to an O day, allowing flexibility for staff and students as needed.
Cancel Veterans Day on Wednesday, 11/11. FCPS used to have school on this holiday, and having school that week would help avoid a mid-week disruption.
Move the teacher workday from Monday, 2/1, to Thursday, 1/28. That date is already an early release day, so the total number of days off stays the same, but it creates an additional full five-day school week.
Cancel Presidents Day.
Eid al-Fitr is currently scheduled for 4/10 and Eid al-Adha for 5/17; both dates can shift. Change both to O days to allow flexibility if needed.

These changes would eliminate six scheduled days off and give students six additional full weeks of uninterrupted instruction. Summer break could then begin on June 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She wants to reopen discussion on the 2026-27 calendar?

I'm sorry, but that ship has already sailed. I do not see the school board doing the work to change what has already been decided and announced.

Best to focus efforts on the 2027-28 and beyond calendar process.

https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-04/2026-2027-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf

I would be more impressed by her if she actually had a proposal. Exactly what about the above would she change?

It’s not hard to do on paper. The following changes make the most sense:

Cancel the Yom Kippur holiday on Monday, 9/21, and change it to an O day, allowing flexibility for staff and students as needed.
Cancel Veterans Day on Wednesday, 11/11. FCPS used to have school on this holiday, and having school that week would help avoid a mid-week disruption.
Move the teacher workday from Monday, 2/1, to Thursday, 1/28. That date is already an early release day, so the total number of days off stays the same, but it creates an additional full five-day school week.
Cancel Presidents Day.
Eid al-Fitr is currently scheduled for 4/10 and Eid al-Adha for 5/17; both dates can shift. Change both to O days to allow flexibility if needed.

These changes would eliminate six scheduled days off and give students six additional full weeks of uninterrupted instruction. Summer break could then begin on June 10.

The only one of these that will not p!ss a large group of parents/teachers off is moving the teacher workday from Monday, 2/1, to Thursday, 1/28. ANY of the other changes will have a group that will push back.

The 2026-27 calendar is set

[Anonymous]

My "favorite" part about the calendar this year is the five day Memorial Day weekend.

Why even send the ES kids back? SOLs are done etc

[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.

Now that I have somewhat older children (taking SOL’s and trying to get into Algebra in 7th etc.) I am actually pretty concerned and anxious about the relative lack of instructional time they get compared to other districts that have more full weeks. Aren’t you concerned that your kids are behind and being short-changed?

I fear this will only get worse as my kids get older. I can supplement now with upper elementary kids. I can’t teach a HS junior AP Calc or AP French or high school level cello. The HS block scheduling makes this even worse. Missing “a day” is like missing two days in one class. It all adds up very quickly.

They aren't getting less instructional time. It's just paced differently. In fact, in years that we don't use a lot of snow days (like last year), they actually get quite a bit more instructional time than surrounding districts. We build in enough hours to have something like 11 snow days. If they aren't used, that's bonus time. As opposed to, say Anne Arundel County, that only builds in 3-5 snow days.

They don't get more instructional time. Those "instructional hours" include walking to and from the school bus, moving between classes, and lunch. I think it might include recess. All those non-instructional hours are included in the 990 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't she the one who set up a private school pod for her kids during covid and did travel sports while crying that community spread was too high to open schools for the hoi polloi? Yeah, she sucks.

I am not a fan of hers but happy to provide my thoughts when she asks.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

This is a waste of time on her part. The calendar debate happened three years ago.

She voted to approve the 2026-27 calendar BTW. She really has no business trying to take up everyone's time with a "framework" now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She wants to reopen discussion on the 2026-27 calendar?

I'm sorry, but that ship has already sailed. I do not see the school board doing the work to change what has already been decided and announced.

Best to focus efforts on the 2027-28 and beyond calendar process.

https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-04/2026-2027-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf

I would be more impressed by her if she actually had a proposal. Exactly what about the above would she change?

It’s not hard to do on paper. The following changes make the most sense:

Cancel the Yom Kippur holiday on Monday, 9/21, and change it to an O day, allowing flexibility for staff and students as needed.
Cancel Veterans Day on Wednesday, 11/11. FCPS used to have school on this holiday, and having school that week would help avoid a mid-week disruption.
Move the teacher workday from Monday, 2/1, to Thursday, 1/28. That date is already an early release day, so the total number of days off stays the same, but it creates an additional full five-day school week.
Cancel Presidents Day.
Eid al-Fitr is currently scheduled for 4/10 and Eid al-Adha for 5/17; both dates can shift. Change both to O days to allow flexibility if needed.

These changes would eliminate six scheduled days off and give students six additional full weeks of uninterrupted instruction. Summer break could then begin on June 10.

None of these would be easy to get agreement on.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a waste of time on her part. The calendar debate happened three years ago.

She voted to approve the 2026-27 calendar BTW. She really has no business trying to take up everyone's time with a "framework" now.

Again, if they're serious or willing to reconsider both # of religious observance days AND # of full/partial teacher workdays, I don't care about their past or have any desire to re-litigate.

I care about someone having courage to correct obvious deficiencies now and going forward...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She wants to reopen discussion on the 2026-27 calendar?

I'm sorry, but that ship has already sailed. I do not see the school board doing the work to change what has already been decided and announced.

Best to focus efforts on the 2027-28 and beyond calendar process.

https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-04/2026-2027-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf

I would be more impressed by her if she actually had a proposal. Exactly what about the above would she change?

It’s not hard to do on paper. The following changes make the most sense:

Cancel the Yom Kippur holiday on Monday, 9/21, and change it to an O day, allowing flexibility for staff and students as needed.
Cancel Veterans Day on Wednesday, 11/11. FCPS used to have school on this holiday, and having school that week would help avoid a mid-week disruption.
Move the teacher workday from Monday, 2/1, to Thursday, 1/28. That date is already an early release day, so the total number of days off stays the same, but it creates an additional full five-day school week.
Cancel Presidents Day.
Eid al-Fitr is currently scheduled for 4/10 and Eid al-Adha for 5/17; both dates can shift. Change both to O days to allow flexibility if needed.

These changes would eliminate six scheduled days off and give students six additional full weeks of uninterrupted instruction. Summer break could then begin on June 10.

None of these would be easy to get agreement on.

Yep Presidents' Day is a federal holiday, for example

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a waste of time on her part. The calendar debate happened three years ago.

She voted to approve the 2026-27 calendar BTW. She really has no business trying to take up everyone's time with a "framework" now.

Again, if they're serious or willing to reconsider both # of religious observance days AND # of full/partial teacher workdays, I don't care about their past or have any desire to re-litigate.

I care about someone having courage to correct obvious deficiencies now and going forward...

But she doesn't have the courage or leadership to propose anything substantive. Her FB post is, at its core, just a compliant.

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

Now that I have somewhat older children (taking SOL’s and trying to get into Algebra in 7th etc.) I am actually pretty concerned and anxious about the relative lack of instructional time they get compared to other districts that have more full weeks. Aren’t you concerned that your kids are behind and being short-changed?

I fear this will only get worse as my kids get older. I can supplement now with upper elementary kids. I can’t teach a HS junior AP Calc or AP French or high school level cello. The HS block scheduling makes this even worse. Missing “a day” is like missing two days in one class. It all adds up very quickly.

Seriously. So many of these kids who love all the days off are going to have a real rude awakening once they get to college and/or the working world.

How do you figure? In college, it's common to have 2 hours of classes and then the rest of the day off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a waste of time on her part. The calendar debate happened three years ago.

She voted to approve the 2026-27 calendar BTW. She really has no business trying to take up everyone's time with a "framework" now.

Again, if they're serious or willing to reconsider both # of religious observance days AND # of full/partial teacher workdays, I don't care about their past or have any desire to re-litigate.

I care about someone having courage to correct obvious deficiencies now and going forward...

But she doesn't have the courage or leadership to propose anything substantive. Her FB post is, at its core, just a compliant.

Yup. She says she’s “collaborating” and “drafting,” but doesn’t own anything - no specific deliverable, vote date, or measurable target. There are no concrete steps.

She also is not building the coalition that she will need. This kind of stunt just makes other school board members and FCPS leadership angry.