MCPS closing/delaying on Monday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who are livid that school is closed today and tomorrow, what do you do for a living?

I ask because no stores seem to be open today and my medical appointment for tomorrow afternoon was canceled because the doctor wants his staff to stay safe.

Good point. We get mad at schools because it is kind of a nightmare to have little kids at home when it is unscheduled. That is the truth and everyone knows it. And we get frustrated with older kids sitting around on their phones. They may be on their phones at school but at least we get to pretend they are engaged and actively learning

DP. I’m sure it’s frustrating, but it’s still a safety issue. And it’s not just this area. I lived for 10+ years in the Boston area and it seemed like schools there closed a similar number of days per year (places of employment other than schools very very rarely closed). The conditions had to be much worse, of course, but schools are always going to be on the more conservative end no matter where you live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I am loving about this thread is that it shows MCPS cannot please everyone. We have people complaining that the school is closed, that there is not virtual option, and kids are missing a day of school work. And we have people complaining that teachers emails work assignments to students on a snow day—“contact the principal” someone suggested.

DCUM posters never fail to disappoint.

The consensus from parents seems to be that schools should quickly schedule a meaningful make-up day that occurs as soon as possible.

Really? OK, try getting a consensus on when the make up day should be. It is always the same. People complaining that the way things are being done is wrong, but so solutions offered.

We already picked the days. If people don't like them, take it up on next year's calendar. 1/29 is the obvious choice.

When is the final grading and report card stuff supposed to happen? Do you have an answer for that? MCPS knows that teachers do real work on 1/29. If they make it a school day, schools will probably house kids in the auditorium and show movies so teachers can get their shit done. That might be just fine with some folks who are looking for free babysitting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are unhinged. Nothing is being learned in school on makeup days. Half the kids don’t even come to school. The 180 day rule is stupid. So what if the school year becomes less. Advocate for quality rather than quantity

We don’t get quality either. The state sets the 180 rule. Our hs teachers sent out emails with assignments due tomorrow. Kids should get credit.

You had teachers email today with work that must be completed on a snow day?

DP - yes, my kids are in HS. I remember reading all these fights about storms over the years and didn’t really understand how much pressure is on HS kids until I had one.

Magnet school perhaps or W school?

No, but does it matter?

Yes. Because at many MCPS high schools (outside the top 10), kids would never do work that was assigned on a snow day. Some students have good reason - because they are helping out their parents and relatives by providing free babysitting

[Anonymous]

My kid is sick so I’m very grateful for these 2 days. Would love to have Wednesday off as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is sick so I’m very grateful for these 2 days. Would love to have Wednesday off as well

Noted. We will work on that for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are unhinged. Nothing is being learned in school on makeup days. Half the kids don’t even come to school. The 180 day rule is stupid. So what if the school year becomes less. Advocate for quality rather than quantity

Because it’s not about learning. It’s about the maximum number of days, hours and minutes the district can warehouse their kids for them.

If it were just about childcare it would be much cheaper for taxpayers. If you think the number of required days is too high, perhaps we should only pay teachers for 4-6 months instead of 10. We don't need to pay six figures and a pension for babysitters.

You are free to suggest that to the MCPS big wigs. They will laugh at you because they are having trouble attracting teachers at the current level of pay. Only a fraction of teachers make six figures

[Anonymous]

The feds have January 9th off. No one is freaking out about that. It is clearly about babysitting more than anything else

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why code purple can’t be used for future snow days. I thought I read that would be an option since MCPS has cut back on the padded in snow days but another poster said they won’t use virtual. Why not?

State law doesn't allow it (except under exceptional circumstances). Schools were abusing it. The allowance for virtual days wasn't intended to cover normal winter weather.

Virtual learning is pretty useless. All evidence points to kids not learning this way. Even adults struggle to stay focused when they are facing a screen

LOL
Until your child is virtual for an advanced class or college. Then it will be brilliant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The feds have January 9th off. No one is freaking out about that. It is clearly about babysitting more than anything else

Ok, and? Most people aren't feds and many don't have off. Lucky you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are unhinged. Nothing is being learned in school on makeup days. Half the kids don’t even come to school. The 180 day rule is stupid. So what if the school year becomes less. Advocate for quality rather than quantity

We don’t get quality either. The state sets the 180 rule. Our hs teachers sent out emails with assignments due tomorrow. Kids should get credit.

You had teachers email today with work that must be completed on a snow day?

DP - yes, my kids are in HS. I remember reading all these fights about storms over the years and didn’t really understand how much pressure is on HS kids until I had one.

Magnet school perhaps or W school?

No, but does it matter?

Yes. Because at many MCPS high schools (outside the top 10), kids would never do work that was assigned on a snow day. Some students have good reason - because they are helping out their parents and relatives by providing free babysitting

Free babysitting - sure, maybe a select few but doubtful. My HS kid had assignments to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why code purple can’t be used for future snow days. I thought I read that would be an option since MCPS has cut back on the padded in snow days but another poster said they won’t use virtual. Why not?

State law doesn't allow it (except under exceptional circumstances). Schools were abusing it. The allowance for virtual days wasn't intended to cover normal winter weather.

Virtual learning is pretty useless. All evidence points to kids not learning this way. Even adults struggle to stay focused when they are facing a screen

No, it wasn't useless. Your kids may not have succeeded, but clearly, there is a reason why... look inward. My kids did great. Far better education than in person. We've had multiple teachers out sick for weeks so two days is a big deal when they prepare for AP/IB tests. We have to pay for tutoring to make up for the absences. And, when some teachers are there they barely teach and play videos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are unhinged. Nothing is being learned in school on makeup days. Half the kids don’t even come to school. The 180 day rule is stupid. So what if the school year becomes less. Advocate for quality rather than quantity

Because it’s not about learning. It’s about the maximum number of days, hours and minutes the district can warehouse their kids for them.

If it were just about childcare it would be much cheaper for taxpayers. If you think the number of required days is too high, perhaps we should only pay teachers for 4-6 months instead of 10. We don't need to pay six figures and a pension for babysitters.

You are free to suggest that to the MCPS big wigs. They will laugh at you because they are having trouble attracting teachers at the current level of pay. Only a fraction of teachers make six figures

I agree with you. It's a large fraction. Given about half of teachers have 15+ years of experience and that's about how long it takes to reach six figures with a master's degree.

They can laugh if they want but they know there are many, many people who would love those jobs whose main barrier is not having a college degree. Babysitters don't need a college degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I am loving about this thread is that it shows MCPS cannot please everyone. We have people complaining that the school is closed, that there is not virtual option, and kids are missing a day of school work. And we have people complaining that teachers emails work assignments to students on a snow day—“contact the principal” someone suggested.

DCUM posters never fail to disappoint.

The consensus from parents seems to be that schools should quickly schedule a meaningful make-up day that occurs as soon as possible.

For AP, a student doesn’t need to sit in the classroom to have a meaningful learning session today.

And that's a small fraction of MCPS students. There aren't a lot of AP classes in elementary school, for example.

There are NO AP classes in ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why code purple can’t be used for future snow days. I thought I read that would be an option since MCPS has cut back on the padded in snow days but another poster said they won’t use virtual. Why not?

State law doesn't allow it (except under exceptional circumstances). Schools were abusing it. The allowance for virtual days wasn't intended to cover normal winter weather.

Virtual learning is pretty useless. All evidence points to kids not learning this way. Even adults struggle to stay focused when they are facing a screen

No, it wasn't useless. Your kids may not have succeeded, but clearly, there is a reason why... look inward. My kids did great. Far better education than in person. We've had multiple teachers out sick for weeks so two days is a big deal when they prepare for AP/IB tests. We have to pay for tutoring to make up for the absences. And, when some teachers are there they barely teach and play videos.

Omg you are still here. I'd hoped you had found something else to occupy your time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I am loving about this thread is that it shows MCPS cannot please everyone. We have people complaining that the school is closed, that there is not virtual option, and kids are missing a day of school work. And we have people complaining that teachers emails work assignments to students on a snow day—“contact the principal” someone suggested.

DCUM posters never fail to disappoint.

The consensus from parents seems to be that schools should quickly schedule a meaningful make-up day that occurs as soon as possible.

For AP, a student doesn’t need to sit in the classroom to have a meaningful learning session today.

And that's a small fraction of MCPS students. There aren't a lot of AP classes in elementary school, for example.

Then only a small fraction of students need to make up the missed day by 1/29 and the rest can wait until June.

Once June hits the learning is over. My kids aren't going for extended days. We have plans.