Next Year's School Calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent, I like the new calendar. I find it easier to plan for the extra week of childcare in the summer than for the single days off sprinkled throughout the old calendar. I wasn't a fan of Hogan originally, but he has my vote based on this decision and others he's made which have helped Maryland to get on a better financial track.

+1

Not only is it easier to plan but it is cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In your home country you don't have Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Labor Day or Memorial Day either. Your schedule barely has the kids in school. They get two weeks off every 6 weeks AND two months off at Summer. Then you would have to add our country's non secular holidays AND half day for professional teaching day.

Our state has 4 seasons and Summer is our biggest season for tourism and helps to pay for our school budgets. Not to mention all the summer camps that can not open in the middle of the year because of weather and not have the ability to hire college or high school counselors for those small 2 week windows. What about pool lifeguards. Most of them are high schoolers. How can they work when they are in the school parts of the summer. How would your schedule and all the breaks work with high school sports? Sorry, not a fan.

I'm not that PP, but I'm guessing that the PP's country has its own holidays, plus teacher training days, plus tourism and summer. Which means that they solve those problems somehow. Which means that we could too, if we wanted to.

You are guessing is correct. You think 2 weeks off every 6 weeks AND 2 months of summer would help dual working families and low income families? Should parents take off those two weeks or have to pay for more childcare and camps every 6 weeks and then a full two months of in the summer. Not ideal.

If this is your attitude then why even have kids if you think you shouldn't have to be responsible for their care and schools should be instead? You have kids, you have to figure out what to do with them when school is closed. If it means having to pay for camps and such, then so be it. If schools started to have more frequent breaks then we would cut back on something else in order to be able to afford camps or childcare for those times since we both WOH.

My kid is in before care for 30 minutes before the bus arrives and in after care 30 minutes after the bus returns. I pay $600/a month for one hour a day of care. That is because as the parent, I am ultimately responsible for finding care for my child, not his school. If I had your attitude, I would be here complaining that schools should be open for longer hours. After all, it's only 30 minutes here and 30 minutes there, right? What an inconvenience to me as the parent to have to pay for him to go to before and after care instead.

This new attitude of parents expecting schools to be held responsible for child care instead of parents is getting out of control.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Orthodox, so losing the days in September would just mean I run out of personal leave and go into unpaid leave at the beginning of Sukkos instead of Shemini Atzeres. I'm in a position that works with students but doesn't require a sub, so as long as nobody gives me a hard time about the days off I have to take (and nobody ever has yet), I can't really complain. This is life if you're Orthodox.

But as has been said upthread, there is a reason MCPS has historically closed on those two days and it isn't because they want everybody to hear tekias shofar. If that operational concern has suddenly disappeared and there's data to prove it, then fine, but otherwise it seems like shooting themselves in the foot.

If that would wipe out your leave then you must have been abusing it in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm Orthodox, so losing the days in September would just mean I run out of personal leave and go into unpaid leave at the beginning of Sukkos instead of Shemini Atzeres. I'm in a position that works with students but doesn't require a sub, so as long as nobody gives me a hard time about the days off I have to take (and nobody ever has yet), I can't really complain. This is life if you're Orthodox.

But as has been said upthread, there is a reason MCPS has historically closed on those two days and it isn't because they want everybody to hear tekias shofar. If that operational concern has suddenly disappeared and there's data to prove it, then fine, but otherwise it seems like shooting themselves in the foot.

If that would wipe out your leave then you must have been abusing it in the past.

Teachers get 3 days of personal leave per school year and if you have any left over at the end of the year it carries over as sick leave, not personal leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Curious, who will run these camps offered every 6 weeks year round? College students tend to run the summer camps here in America.

Who runs the camps in the last weeks of August, when college students have gone back to school, and MCPS students would also be back in school if not for Governor Hogan's executive order?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent, I like the new calendar. I find it easier to plan for the extra week of childcare in the summer than for the single days off sprinkled throughout the old calendar. I wasn't a fan of Hogan originally, but he has my vote based on this decision and others he's made which have helped Maryland to get on a better financial track.

+1

Not only is it easier to plan but it is cheaper.

Cheaper for you, maybe. Not me. My aftercare covers professional days at no extra charge. So now I pay for an extra week of summer camp on addition to aftercare. The aftercare rate was not reduced even though there are less professional days.
In the end, it costs me an extra $700 to cover the extra camp week.

[Anonymous]

I just think constricting the calendar so tightly doesn't give our kids enough down time during the school year for breaks. Spring break and other days off are great for kids to re-charge. :/

I would ideally prefer the year-round model. I know that's not popular bc all the rich MoCo family shave vacations to take. Us middle-class people have to stitch together camps and sitters and TV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent, I like the new calendar. I find it easier to plan for the extra week of childcare in the summer than for the single days off sprinkled throughout the old calendar. I wasn't a fan of Hogan originally, but he has my vote based on this decision and others he's made which have helped Maryland to get on a better financial track.

+1

Not only is it easier to plan but it is cheaper.

Cheaper for you, maybe. Not me. My aftercare covers professional days at no extra charge. So now I pay for an extra week of summer camp on addition to aftercare. The aftercare rate was not reduced even though there are less professional days.
In the end, it costs me an extra $700 to cover the extra camp week.

I believe that it's two weeks extra, this coming summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think constricting the calendar so tightly doesn't give our kids enough down time during the school year for breaks. Spring break and other days off are great for kids to re-charge. :/

I would ideally prefer the year-round model. I know that's not popular bc all the rich MoCo family shave vacations to take. Us middle-class people have to stitch together camps and sitters and TV.

I totally agree with your first paragraph. These calendars are a real grind. Days off were my lifeblood as a student because I worked so damn hard. As for your second paragraph, the year round model would help my family take less expensive vacations at times when tourist destinations are less crowded. Vacations are part of the reason why I'd like the year round model.

[Anonymous]

I'm catholic and am all for getting rid of Good Friday and Easter Monday. It's ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I truly hope they get rid of the Jewish holidays. Less than 10% of the population in MCPS is Jewish and starting the school off with three 4 day weeks is ridiculous.

It's a sub issue, genius.

This area has a high concentration of Jewish people, and many are teachers. Once you cut a Jewish holiday, the number of subs available - b/c they're already scarce - aren't enough to cover.

Jewish people teach, too, you know . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I truly hope they get rid of the Jewish holidays. Less than 10% of the population in MCPS is Jewish and starting the school off with three 4 day weeks is ridiculous.

It's a sub issue, genius.

This area has a high concentration of Jewish people, and many are teachers. Once you cut a Jewish holiday, the number of subs available - b/c they're already scarce - aren't enough to cover.

Jewish people teach, too, you know . . .

I agree on the operational issue, but it would help everyone understand if MCPS actually provided data. How many subs do they need when the Conservative/Orthodox teachers take the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah off, for example? How many students are conservative/Orthodox and get an excused absence for the 2nd day. Add 1/3 more for the Reform students/teachers and estimate the absentee rate for both on dates when school is in session on the major Jewish holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think constricting the calendar so tightly doesn't give our kids enough down time during the school year for breaks. Spring break and other days off are great for kids to re-charge. :/

I would ideally prefer the year-round model. I know that's not popular bc all the rich MoCo family shave vacations to take. Us middle-class people have to stitch together camps and sitters and TV.

It has to do with the economy you nitwit. The fact that you think it has to do with rich people taking another vacation is ridiculous and embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I truly hope they get rid of the Jewish holidays. Less than 10% of the population in MCPS is Jewish and starting the school off with three 4 day weeks is ridiculous.

It's a sub issue, genius.

This area has a high concentration of Jewish people, and many are teachers. Once you cut a Jewish holiday, the number of subs available - b/c they're already scarce - aren't enough to cover.

Jewish people teach, too, you know . . .

I have never met a Jewish teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I truly hope they get rid of the Jewish holidays. Less than 10% of the population in MCPS is Jewish and starting the school off with three 4 day weeks is ridiculous.

It's a sub issue, genius.

This area has a high concentration of Jewish people, and many are teachers. Once you cut a Jewish holiday, the number of subs available - b/c they're already scarce - aren't enough to cover.

Jewish people teach, too, you know . . .

I have never met a Jewish teacher.

That's ridiculous. You probably just don't know that your kids have Jewish teachers. My kids have had many. You probably have stereotypes about what a jewish teacher would look like or act like.