2020-2021 Proposed Calendar Options

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inauguration Day is an excused absence for students who want to attend. I believe students who cannot attend should be in school, perhaps learning about the Inauguration or even viewing the swearing in ceremony. No need to make it a school holiday.

Calendar three is definitely the best option.

I would love for Inauguration Day to be a field trip day for whatever grade kids learn about national gov't. You many not like the person being elected but it's an amazing process.

So let's think about the logistics and expense of busing kids down to the inauguration.

I am all for learning but this makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a way to provide feedback? I don’t see an email address or website listed in the doc.

Anyone know how to provide feedback?

[Anonymous]

Were the options discussed or just presented at the meeting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a way to provide feedback? I don’t see an email address or website listed in the doc.

Anyone know how to provide feedback?

Email the BOE members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a way to provide feedback? I don’t see an email address or website listed in the doc.

Anyone know how to provide feedback?

According to the timeline, that will come in October-November.

•October 8, 2019: Board of Education initial review
•October–November 2019: Public comment and feedback
•November–December 2019: Board of Education finalizes calendars for traditional and innovative schools

[Anonymous]

The third one is the best. Don't need a mid-Jan break. And prefer to have weeks start on Mon and end Fri for camp purposes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Option 2 all the way. Option 1 is okay, too. But I like the idea of easing in with a shorter week. My kids are always dead tired the first few weeks, even though they go to summer camps.

If they don't start until the day of such a late Labor Day, teachers won't get a paycheck until almost October!

Very good point. I’m the two-teacher family poster from earlier. Our first paychecks were today. It was a bit rough after 9/1 despite careful budgeting because we had three huge unexpected expenses in late August and my DD fractured her wrist the second day of school so that was $150/copay alone.

Can’t you choose to spread your pay out over 12 months?

Nope. Years ago it was an option, but then it was discontinued for new teachers, and eventually dropped all together. We're a two-teacher family, but I have some summer days. That's enough to cover the basic bills, and of course we budget and sock away "summer money" all year, but DH still ends up doing Door Dash and grocery delivery to keep us from dipping into our long term savings by the end of the summer. We love summer as much as anyone, but having an early end and then a late start complicates our financials. With that third option, our first paycheck would be September 25!

I’m the poster whose daughter fractured her wrist. We live a pretty frugal life by preference and are incredibly careful, but it’s almost impossible to live in MoCo as a two teacher family without inherited money or working during the summer. Due to serious health issues that DH is dealing with, neither of us worked this summer (except the two mandated salary days). If we hadn’t had the big emergencies all in a three week period, we would have just squeaked by. But I put back basic groceries like fresh produce and BLSL chicken thighs on Tuesday because I had less than $10 in our checking account. It was pretty uncomfortable. We both grew up poor and can cook on a shoestring, but I didn’t want my DD to notice.

All of the things you cite are things that I experience as a single mom -- tight budget, unexpected health costs, etc. I'm too poor to even consider Door Dash and grocery delivery! With today's electronic banking and savings sweeps, you can easily make your own 12 month salary. In fact, that's preferable to having the county do it for you because you can sweep those savings to a fund that at least earns something while you wait to use it in summer.

TBH, many teachers have summer jobs or side gigs. There is a lot you can do in 3 months in the summer, especially if you teach math or reading/writing.

The expectation that the county should pick a calendar based on your financial needs, is a bit narcissistic IMO.

I mean if you were a 10 month employee and your employer let you pick your calendar wouldn't that factor into your decision making process?

Everyone else here is weighing in on what works better for their summer plans why the hell wouldn't the concerns of the teachers be just as valid? You're a jerk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were the options discussed or just presented at the meeting?

They were discussed a little bit, mostly to explain the differences between the options. And they pointed out that they would need to officially change the MCPS policy if they do open on Inauguration Day. They will likely reword it to say that MCPS *may* close on Inauguration Day depending on other calendar or operational concerns.
The committee could have asked for modifications to the options, but they did not, opting to send all three options to the full board.

[Anonymous]

If Inauguration Day is a day off, then the Tuesday beforehand should be as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Inauguration Day is a day off, then the Tuesday beforehand should be as well.

Yes. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Inauguration Day is a day off, then the Tuesday beforehand should be as well.

Yes. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on that.

Except that option 1 has Monday (MLK) and Wednesday (Inauguration) off, but not Tuesday. But most people here don't seem to like that option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The third one is the best. Don't need a mid-Jan break. And prefer to have weeks start on Mon and end Fri for camp purposes

Agreed about camp, but I think it's actually better to plan to end mid-week (option 2) because of the strong likelihood of having to add in makeup days because of snow. Last year, they had to add in two additional days (June 5, originally planned to be closed, and June 14). I'd rather have the ability to fill out the last week of school with makeup days instead of carrying over to the next week, when I'll have had to plan camps for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Inauguration Day is a day off, then the Tuesday beforehand should be as well.

Yes. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on that.

Except that option 1 has Monday (MLK) and Wednesday (Inauguration) off, but not Tuesday. But most people here don't seem to like that option.

Because that option doesn't start until Sept 8, since Labor Day is so late. Although I guess that would give families a chance to hit Disney World during the "low crowd" season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Inauguration Day is a day off, then the Tuesday beforehand should be as well.

Yes. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on that.

Except that option 1 has Monday (MLK) and Wednesday (Inauguration) off, but not Tuesday. But most people here don't seem to like that option.

Because that option doesn't start until Sept 8, since Labor Day is so late. Although I guess that would give families a chance to hit Disney World during the "low crowd" season.

Not necessarily the BoE's first priority in setting the calendar for the school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Inauguration Day is a day off, then the Tuesday beforehand should be as well.

Yes. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on that.

Except that option 1 has Monday (MLK) and Wednesday (Inauguration) off, but not Tuesday. But most people here don't seem to like that option.

Because that option doesn't start until Sept 8, since Labor Day is so late. Although I guess that would give families a chance to hit Disney World during the "low crowd" season.

Not necessarily the BoE's first priority in setting the calendar for the school system.

I beg to differ. "Let summer be summer," remember?