Melanie Meren's FB post about the calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am SO mad about this idea. We have real problems in our schools, but Meren is apparently swayed by the usual loud mouths whose primary goal for school is childcare for their elementary-aged kids. As both a parent and teacher, I wish we had more 4-day weeks, not less. Everyone is so burned out and exhausted - both kids and teachers - at the end of 5 day. We have an attendance problem, and more days in a row will make it worse, not better. There need to be some days when kids can go to medical and other appointments without taking time off from school. 5-day weeks guarantee absences.

The idea of taking away teacher work days just guarantees worse classes. We barely have time to plan as it is. By Friday we're all so tired and under water that we can barely do anything - those teacher days this year were very much needed to catch up and get some grading and planning done. People who think they can be front loaded don't understand how schools work. That's like saying you can reduce the time you spend doing dishes by just doing them all in August.

+100 former FCPS teacher here and we need those planning days. All the teachers I know love the 4 day weeks and the random days off. It’s the only way they are staying afloat.

I am a teacher and while I need teacher workdays there are ways to do this without the disjointed calendar we have this year. I mean just look at the week after spring break? Why do we need a day that Monday and then that Friday? Our ES kids are struggling to get into a routine.

Looking at next year’s calendar which is not as bad you can still make a few adjustments that will give us more full weeks and get out earlier. Veteran’s Day should be a school day. It always was in the past. Full week back. They should change end of Quarter 2. Instead of Fri/Mon teacher workdays make it Th/Fri and you get a full week back. You then get out two days earlier in June.

I

Your proposal gets us one less holiday, not two.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speaking only for ES, not MS/HS

The 2026-2027 calendar is terrible for teachers. I think it needs to be revisited not to increase the number of 5 days weeks, but to reduce them and provide more planning time.

As PPs have said, the ES pacing guides’ content level is such that the actual instruction for each week can be conducted over 1-2 days. There are few exceptions to this, but as a norm, the amount of content covered each week is pretty low. (I would challenge parents who think the instruction is going at a faster
pace to sub for a day.) At least at the ES level, kids simply are not missing out on academic instruction when schools are closed for a religious holiday, teacher workdays or snow.

The issue is obviously that ES is childcare for many families. So closing schools for teacher workdays or early release is a burden on families. I do not know how to solve this issue.

But families should not be fretting that their kids are behind academically due to the calendar.

There is not much *new* material, but a lot of elementary material requires repetition and a lot of practice to make it automatic, like times tables, adding and subtracting within 20, phonics, etc, so the rest 3-4 days still matter. Especially since there is no homework.

For kids who truly need lots of repetition, the morning exercises on their laptop. This practice is now done online, not from teacher instruction. But many students do not require weeks of repetitive exercises to gain mastery.

Honest question - have you ever spent time in a classroom? If not, I would encourage you to sign up to sub. Or at least look at the pacing guides for your child’s grade. It’s very clear that the content does not require five full days of instruction.

Thanks, too busy with my full time job, covering for no school days and early releases, and providing the needed repetition after hours.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:As a HS teacher whose planning got cut by more than half this year thanks to IPR hall duty and additional required CTs and department meetings, those random days off are the only reason I’m staying afloat this year. I use every holiday and snow day to plan/grade.

If they disappear, they have to take something else off my plate. I can’t do it all with less time.

Everyone of those snow days and random days off is a tax of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the FCPS parent body. You are not presenting a good value proposition for keeping them.

You keep repeating this as if it’s the schools’ problem.

It 👏 is 👏 not. 👏

It is, however, the school board’s problem. They’re the ones who are meant to be responding to the concerns of their constituents.

I know you super, duper believe that. You’re still incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a HS teacher whose planning got cut by more than half this year thanks to IPR hall duty and additional required CTs and department meetings, those random days off are the only reason I’m staying afloat this year. I use every holiday and snow day to plan/grade.

If they disappear, they have to take something else off my plate. I can’t do it all with less time.

Everyone of those snow days and random days off is a tax of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the FCPS parent body. You are not presenting a good value proposition for keeping them.

You keep repeating this as if it’s the schools’ problem.

It 👏 is 👏 not. 👏

It is, however, the school board’s problem. They’re the ones who are meant to be responding to the concerns of their constituents.

ThEiR cOnStItUeNtS

You can keep regurgitating this over and over again, but the vocal minority arguing for it doesn't make things happen. FCPS cares about THEIR money, graduation rates, and test scores.

THEY. DO. NOT. CARE. that your PRIVATE childcare costs are causing you a burden. You emailed, they responded and told you what you wanted to hear as they politically have to to keep earning your vote.

+1,000,000. The intern/assistant responding via the boss’s email even changed a few lines in the copy and paste form response to reflect things you said in your email, just so you’d feel “heard.”

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:[i]

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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...

And most don't have unlimited PTO. Fed don't have unlimited PTO. State government officials don't have unlimited PTO. The vast majority of contracting companies don't have unlimited PTO. When the company I worked for that shifted to unlimited PTO did so, they flat out said they knew that very few companies offered this and they saw it as a potential element to help bring on sought after individuals. Then they started letting people go for abusing unlimited PTO because it does not align with their contract requirements.

So your argument is that a crappy school calendar is fine because there are a limited number of jobs that offer remote work and unlimited PTO so kids don't need to get used to going to school 5 days a work because they are going to have jobs that are 5 days a week? You are citing jobs that require college degrees in some advanced fields that is a small sub set of the population as your reference point for this idea that it is ok to have a school calendar that is a mess.

The calendar then is fine for training future engineers, accountants, pharmacy reps, and maybe lawyers who might find jobs that allow for remote work and unlimited PTO. What percentage of the population is that?

Observer of this back and forth, no dog in the fight, but curious nonetheless. Is your stance that children need to go to school five days a week because that is what prepares them for going to work five days a week?

My stance is that kids need consistency and repetition in order to learn material and need to be in school 5 days a week to build that base. I am not a fan of the A/B day model because I don't think that longer class periods and less reps help kids learn the material that they need to learn. The need for the structure shifts as you get older because the material that you are learning shifts but that really doesn't start to happen until sometime in HS and even then for more upper level classes. I have friends who teach ES, MS, and HS and they all say that the repeated short weeks are awful for class routine and learning. My friends who teach SPED classes really hate the schedule because it is even harder for kids with learning issues and emotional issues who need structure.

You also have the kids who count on the school to provide breakfast and lunch who benefit from school being open. And the parents who are working during school hours who can't afford child care who need school to be open. There are host of societal reasons for school to be open on a consistent schedule, whether we think that is the role of school or not, we need to acknowledge that schools have become a safe place that feeds kids for many kids.


I am guessing someone else mentioned that learning to attend school for 5 days helps with preparing for being in the workforce where you need to be at your job on a regular schedule, which led the the person who works remotely with unlimited PTO. I missed that linkage.

And, if teaching kids about working 5 days a week and needing to actually be at work is something that is important, they sure as heck are not learning it with this schedule.

What is your basis that 5 days a week is what builds the base of consistency and repetition? What is the educational basis that argues for 5 days? Also, what is the hour requirement for the 5 days? Is 6 hours too few? Is 8 hours too much?

Why not 4 days on and 3 days off? Or 6 days on and 1 day off?

What if it was 5 days a week, but only 4 hours a day?

Or 4 days a week, but 8 hours a day with classes everyday?

Or 3 days a week, 12 hours a day with 30 min mental breaks in between each class?

What if we had year round school with 4 two week breaks at the end of every quarter?

I'm just curious what it is about 5 day weeks that is the deciding factor of if students are getting the proper building blocks for learning? 5 days because the majority of the population has to work 5 days?

Bingo. Bravo. You’ve hit the nail on the head. That is the only reason they keep demanding 5 day weeks.

NP- Using your same argument, why aren't you arguing that kids go to school on weekends instead, while their parents work weekdays? That should stick it to those parents!

You…actually thought this was a clever and cogent response.

Astonishing.

[Anonymous]

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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.

Yawn. Don’t you ever get tired of yourself? So dramatic.

Can't deny it, so you deflect. Classic.

Honey, you’re wrong. You will continue to be wrong. And then you clap back with juvenile nonsense like this. So enjoy your wrongness.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a HS teacher whose planning got cut by more than half this year thanks to IPR hall duty and additional required CTs and department meetings, those random days off are the only reason I’m staying afloat this year. I use every holiday and snow day to plan/grade.

If they disappear, they have to take something else off my plate. I can’t do it all with less time.

Everyone of those snow days and random days off is a tax of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the FCPS parent body. You are not presenting a good value proposition for keeping them.

You keep repeating this as if it’s the schools’ problem.

It 👏 is 👏 not. 👏

It is, however, the school board’s problem. They’re the ones who are meant to be responding to the concerns of their constituents.

ThEiR cOnStItUeNtS

You can keep regurgitating this over and over again, but the vocal minority arguing for it doesn't make things happen. FCPS cares about THEIR money, graduation rates, and test scores.

THEY. DO. NOT. CARE. that your PRIVATE childcare costs are causing you a burden. You emailed, they responded and told you what you wanted to hear as they politically have to to keep earning your vote.

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.


Sounds like some of them care.

"Many families" could literally be 5 or it could be 5 million. You, as long as everyone else, has no idea.

I mean there are about 200 by-name responses to her Facebook post, but sure, it’s five. She was motivated by five people to take this up. That’s very rational.

HAHAHAHA this is all from a Facebook post?! With 200 comments?!

There's 183,000 students in FCPS. Let's lowball and say 100,000 families. 200 of them take the time out of their life to complain on social media. That's less than a half of a half of a percent.

Talk about a vocal minority.

You’re confused if you think I thought that was a meaningful number, I’m saying the idea that the school board is reacting to “five people” is silly.

The idea that the schoolboard has your best financial interest in mind or that they're even remotely responsible for the cost of child outside of school is silly.

Then why is it a school board member is pushing for lower childcare cost outside of school?

Affordability is a hot topic in the democratic party. The school board member is democratic. The school board member needs your votes.

If a bunch of people emailed and complained that FCPS new website color should be hot pink you can bet that one of the school board members would champion that cause. Why? Because it earns them votes.

Then let them make some easy changes and earn some votes.

Are you completely new to politics? They don't actually have to change anything. They just have to run on the idea that they will.

Mic drop. End of thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Reference the data that shows that this is ineffective education. There's just as many that show that shorter weeks are highly effective.

Teaching kids to adapt to a varying schedule, what a horrible thing for them to learn.

Let's see, we probably have 50 -100 years of data that shows consistent 5 day schooling is effective and efficient.

I'm sure you have some evidence handy for random 3 day a week schooling, let's see it. Prove it.

I for one am far more interested in seeing your data from the 1920s and 1930s than their data for 3 day weeks.

Have you ever used Google? You might want to try it.

Oh, no, no, no. That’s not how it works.

We’re waiting.

[Anonymous]

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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...

And most don't have unlimited PTO. Fed don't have unlimited PTO. State government officials don't have unlimited PTO. The vast majority of contracting companies don't have unlimited PTO. When the company I worked for that shifted to unlimited PTO did so, they flat out said they knew that very few companies offered this and they saw it as a potential element to help bring on sought after individuals. Then they started letting people go for abusing unlimited PTO because it does not align with their contract requirements.

So your argument is that a crappy school calendar is fine because there are a limited number of jobs that offer remote work and unlimited PTO so kids don't need to get used to going to school 5 days a work because they are going to have jobs that are 5 days a week? You are citing jobs that require college degrees in some advanced fields that is a small sub set of the population as your reference point for this idea that it is ok to have a school calendar that is a mess.

The calendar then is fine for training future engineers, accountants, pharmacy reps, and maybe lawyers who might find jobs that allow for remote work and unlimited PTO. What percentage of the population is that?

Observer of this back and forth, no dog in the fight, but curious nonetheless. Is your stance that children need to go to school five days a week because that is what prepares them for going to work five days a week?

My stance is that kids need consistency and repetition in order to learn material and need to be in school 5 days a week to build that base. I am not a fan of the A/B day model because I don't think that longer class periods and less reps help kids learn the material that they need to learn. The need for the structure shifts as you get older because the material that you are learning shifts but that really doesn't start to happen until sometime in HS and even then for more upper level classes. I have friends who teach ES, MS, and HS and they all say that the repeated short weeks are awful for class routine and learning. My friends who teach SPED classes really hate the schedule because it is even harder for kids with learning issues and emotional issues who need structure.

You also have the kids who count on the school to provide breakfast and lunch who benefit from school being open. And the parents who are working during school hours who can't afford child care who need school to be open. There are host of societal reasons for school to be open on a consistent schedule, whether we think that is the role of school or not, we need to acknowledge that schools have become a safe place that feeds kids for many kids.


I am guessing someone else mentioned that learning to attend school for 5 days helps with preparing for being in the workforce where you need to be at your job on a regular schedule, which led the the person who works remotely with unlimited PTO. I missed that linkage.

And, if teaching kids about working 5 days a week and needing to actually be at work is something that is important, they sure as heck are not learning it with this schedule.

What is your basis that 5 days a week is what builds the base of consistency and repetition? What is the educational basis that argues for 5 days? Also, what is the hour requirement for the 5 days? Is 6 hours too few? Is 8 hours too much?

Why not 4 days on and 3 days off? Or 6 days on and 1 day off?

What if it was 5 days a week, but only 4 hours a day?

Or 4 days a week, but 8 hours a day with classes everyday?

Or 3 days a week, 12 hours a day with 30 min mental breaks in between each class?

What if we had year round school with 4 two week breaks at the end of every quarter?

I'm just curious what it is about 5 day weeks that is the deciding factor of if students are getting the proper building blocks for learning? 5 days because the majority of the population has to work 5 days?

Bingo. Bravo. You’ve hit the nail on the head. That is the only reason they keep demanding 5 day weeks.

+1000, this board says the kids (per pediatricians) need “consistency”. Those findings aren’t referring to school as 5 days a week, those studies are referring to home life.

Ding ding ding. Someone else gets it. Your kid going to school one day a week, every week, is also consistency lol but no one is arguing for that. No one has made a single, legitimate, justification for why school must be a 5 day week every week. Just complaints that they as parents have to go to their job 5 days a week and it costs more for their kid to be in daycare (which again, is their financial responsibility. No one else's).

As a parent who hates this calendar, I will call your bluff. I would love to see a plan for 4-day week that created a day for homework or reading, or some time outside not on devices. I think you could even make a case for 3 days given how much bloat there is in the FCPS day. Great - let's try it! Make it the same 1-2 days every week and get rid of all the other random days off.

I went to FCPS in the days where ALL Mondays were half-days in ES for planning time. And that was fine because it was ALL of them - parents were able to set up long-term changes to their hours/schedule or find care because it was consistent. Club and activities planned meetings for Monday afternoons at the school. The haphazard nature of the schedule makes those types of community, common sense solutions impossible.

1. I don’t believe you, but it’s easy to say anything on an anonymous message board when you know it will never come back to you and will never happen.
2. On the exceedingly off chance you are serious, congratulations. You’re a unicorn. Everything else that PP said about how it’s not about “consistency,” but about kids being in school when their parents are at work, is correct.

DP

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:A good choice consistant with historical would be to move the November 3 2026 SD day to Nov 11 and then make the TW day virtual and put it on Nov 25. Free five-day week.

November 3 is Election Day. The first quarter is timed so that Election Day falls within the standard post quarter work days.

But it isn’t required to have two days. The SP can still easily be placed on the 11th.

School will be closed on the SP day, Nov 3 because it is Election Day and schools are used as a polling place. Moving the Nov 2 TW to Nov 11 or Nov 22 means students would be in school Monday, off Tuesday, then back Wed-Thurs. It’s fine the way it is.

It could be fine. Or you could save every household a couple hundred dollars by moving it to November 11.

Nobody cares. Truly. In all sincerity. No, not even if they got FB comments. No, not even if you got a reply to your email. Truly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:A good choice consistant with historical would be to move the November 3 2026 SD day to Nov 11 and then make the TW day virtual and put it on Nov 25. Free five-day week.

November 3 is Election Day. The first quarter is timed so that Election Day falls within the standard post quarter work days.

But it isn’t required to have two days. The SP can still easily be placed on the 11th.

School will be closed on the SP day, Nov 3 because it is Election Day and schools are used as a polling place. Moving the Nov 2 TW to Nov 11 or Nov 22 means students would be in school Monday, off Tuesday, then back Wed-Thurs. It’s fine the way it is.

Why is it fine?

Outside the normal vacations, every optional day off of school should be waited against the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to parents.

LOLOL

[Anonymous]

I was a teacher. Sure I enjoyed the occasional snow day (where I worked, teachers were required to come in, even when kids were not there. If the roads were really, really bad, they might give us the day off.)

But, even though we enjoyed them, we knew they were not good for our students.

I don't think people in Fairfax would object so much if there were not so many early release and teacher planning days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I can't believe I just read all of this. This is... a lot.

The idea that the school board/school system is somehow responsible for easing the financial burden of child care costs (or the costs of ANYTHING outside of school is ludicrous. Your child is your financial responsibility. It's called being a parent. The fact that needs to be explained to people who are currently parents is incredibly sad.

For what it's worth, the Virginia Department of Education has a Child Care Subsidy Program. Explain your circumstance and try applying.

Here is the link for those who actually need it: https://www.childcare.virginia.gov/families/paying-for-child-care

I truly feel bad for the people struggling, but help/solutions are out there beyond hoping that the schoolboard will change the schedule on the sole basis that it financially helps families. Hope isn't a plan. But YOU do need a plan on how to financially be responsible for YOUR child.

The calendar is released well in advance. There are numerous changes YOU can make as a parent for YOUR child to better be able to handle the financial burden of increased childcare needs besides hoping for someone else to help YOU afford YOUR child.

Own? Move to a smaller house with less of a mortgage. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Rent? Move to a cheaper apartment. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Have a car payment? Sell it and buy a cheaper car. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Car paid off? Sell it and buy a used older car. Use the money you made off of your car sale to offset the increased childcare costs.

Eat at home? Shop at cheaper grocery stores and buy in bulk. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Eat out? Eat out a few times less per month. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

These are just a few of MANY solutions/sacrifices that YOU as a parent should be willing to make to financially support YOUR child.

Are these difficult changes? Yes, and I'm sure there will be lots of arguments why they're preposterous ideas to some and how they shouldn't have to make them. But again, it's YOUR child and YOU should be willing to do anything to be able to financially provide the best YOU can.

The hard truth is, if it was that important of an issue or was really hurting your pockets that much, you would. But it's easier to anonymously complain on the internet, send some emails to your school board politicians, and rely on hope.

*thunderous applause*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I can't believe I just read all of this. This is... a lot.

The idea that the school board/school system is somehow responsible for easing the financial burden of child care costs (or the costs of ANYTHING outside of school is ludicrous. Your child is your financial responsibility. It's called being a parent. The fact that needs to be explained to people who are currently parents is incredibly sad.

For what it's worth, the Virginia Department of Education has a Child Care Subsidy Program. Explain your circumstance and try applying.

Here is the link for those who actually need it: https://www.childcare.virginia.gov/families/paying-for-child-care

I truly feel bad for the people struggling, but help/solutions are out there beyond hoping that the schoolboard will change the schedule on the sole basis that it financially helps families. Hope isn't a plan. But YOU do need a plan on how to financially be responsible for YOUR child.

The calendar is released well in advance. There are numerous changes YOU can make as a parent for YOUR child to better be able to handle the financial burden of increased childcare needs besides hoping for someone else to help YOU afford YOUR child.

Own? Move to a smaller house with less of a mortgage. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Rent? Move to a cheaper apartment. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Have a car payment? Sell it and buy a cheaper car. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Car paid off? Sell it and buy a used older car. Use the money you made off of your car sale to offset the increased childcare costs.

Eat at home? Shop at cheaper grocery stores and buy in bulk. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Eat out? Eat out a few times less per month. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

These are just a few of MANY solutions/sacrifices that YOU as a parent should be willing to make to financially support YOUR child.

Are these difficult changes? Yes, and I'm sure there will be lots of arguments why they're preposterous ideas to some and how they shouldn't have to make them. But again, it's YOUR child and YOU should be willing to do anything to be able to financially provide the best YOU can.

The hard truth is, if it was that important of an issue or was really hurting your pockets that much, you would. But it's easier to anonymously complain on the internet, send some emails to your school board politicians, and rely on hope.

Members of the school board seemed to disagree with you. Why do you think that is?

They don’t. They’re just telling you what you want to hear to get your vote. It’s sad that you’re dumb enough to fall for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I can't believe I just read all of this. This is... a lot.

The idea that the school board/school system is somehow responsible for easing the financial burden of child care costs (or the costs of ANYTHING outside of school is ludicrous. Your child is your financial responsibility. It's called being a parent. The fact that needs to be explained to people who are currently parents is incredibly sad.

For what it's worth, the Virginia Department of Education has a Child Care Subsidy Program. Explain your circumstance and try applying.

Here is the link for those who actually need it: https://www.childcare.virginia.gov/families/paying-for-child-care

I truly feel bad for the people struggling, but help/solutions are out there beyond hoping that the schoolboard will change the schedule on the sole basis that it financially helps families. Hope isn't a plan. But YOU do need a plan on how to financially be responsible for YOUR child.

The calendar is released well in advance. There are numerous changes YOU can make as a parent for YOUR child to better be able to handle the financial burden of increased childcare needs besides hoping for someone else to help YOU afford YOUR child.

Own? Move to a smaller house with less of a mortgage. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Rent? Move to a cheaper apartment. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Have a car payment? Sell it and buy a cheaper car. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Car paid off? Sell it and buy a used older car. Use the money you made off of your car sale to offset the increased childcare costs.

Eat at home? Shop at cheaper grocery stores and buy in bulk. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

Eat out? Eat out a few times less per month. Use the savings to offset the increased childcare costs.

These are just a few of MANY solutions/sacrifices that YOU as a parent should be willing to make to financially support YOUR child.

Are these difficult changes? Yes, and I'm sure there will be lots of arguments why they're preposterous ideas to some and how they shouldn't have to make them. But again, it's YOUR child and YOU should be willing to do anything to be able to financially provide the best YOU can.

The hard truth is, if it was that important of an issue or was really hurting your pockets that much, you would. But it's easier to anonymously complain on the internet, send some emails to your school board politicians, and rely on hope.

I'm so happy your husband can afford to pay your nanny.

I agree with her. We’re real middle class (not “DCUM faux middle class”) and we have never had a nanny. It’s called personal responsibility. Try it sometime. 🤷‍♀️