How DO we get the calendar changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what happened?

I missed the meeting, but here are the motions from the agenda:

Main Motion #1: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to increase the number of full school weeks (defined as five consecutive days of student instruction from Monday to Friday) for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years, with a target of at least two-thirds of school weeks by SY 2028-29, consistent with the historical average for full school weeks from SY 1988-89 to SY 2013-14. (MD/RM)

Main Motion #2: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to increase the duration of the summer holiday (measured from the last day of school to the first day of school) for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years, consistent with the historical average for summer days from SY 1988-89 to SY 2013-14. (MD/IM)

Main Motion #3: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to designate all Federal holidays (established by law under 5 U.S.C. § 6103) as student holidays for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years. (MD/RM)

Main Motion #4: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to, in addition to community engagement required by policy or regulation, establish an advisory committee consisting of community members, modeled on the Boundary Review Advisory Committee and with two representatives from each high school pyramid, to provide feedback on the development and implementation of school year calendars. (RM/IM)

Main Motion #5: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to evaluate the potential academic, financial, and operational impacts of a balanced school calendar (for particular schools and pyramids or the division as a whole); in the event the Superintendent finds a balanced school calendar would provide significant benefits (for particular schools and pyramids or the division as a whole), the Superintendent shall solicit community feedback and present her recommendations to the School Board by January 2027. (MD/RM)

I’m so confused by Motion #3 because last month, wasn’t Dunne the one who had the calendar changes to hold school on Veterans Day?

Even if they hated all of these motions, including 5 which would have them studying instituting year-round school, why on earth would they vote down 4? They don't want community feedback on the calendar? What the heck? That's a bad look, even for them.

The BRAC model is flawed though, because it gives undue influence by a very small subset of the community. Community feedback is already a requirement of the policy. The motion was to add a committee on top of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what happened?

I missed the meeting, but here are the motions from the agenda:

Main Motion #1: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to increase the number of full school weeks (defined as five consecutive days of student instruction from Monday to Friday) for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years, with a target of at least two-thirds of school weeks by SY 2028-29, consistent with the historical average for full school weeks from SY 1988-89 to SY 2013-14. (MD/RM)

Main Motion #2: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to increase the duration of the summer holiday (measured from the last day of school to the first day of school) for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years, consistent with the historical average for summer days from SY 1988-89 to SY 2013-14. (MD/IM)

Main Motion #3: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to designate all Federal holidays (established by law under 5 U.S.C. § 6103) as student holidays for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years. (MD/RM)

Main Motion #4: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to, in addition to community engagement required by policy or regulation, establish an advisory committee consisting of community members, modeled on the Boundary Review Advisory Committee and with two representatives from each high school pyramid, to provide feedback on the development and implementation of school year calendars. (RM/IM)

Main Motion #5: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to evaluate the potential academic, financial, and operational impacts of a balanced school calendar (for particular schools and pyramids or the division as a whole); in the event the Superintendent finds a balanced school calendar would provide significant benefits (for particular schools and pyramids or the division as a whole), the Superintendent shall solicit community feedback and present her recommendations to the School Board by January 2027. (MD/RM)

I’m so confused by Motion #3 because last month, wasn’t Dunne the one who had the calendar changes to hold school on Veterans Day?

Whoever introduced these are the ones that should be criticized. All 5 should have been voted down. Good for the full Board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what happened?

I missed the meeting, but here are the motions from the agenda:

Main Motion #1: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to increase the number of full school weeks (defined as five consecutive days of student instruction from Monday to Friday) for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years, with a target of at least two-thirds of school weeks by SY 2028-29, consistent with the historical average for full school weeks from SY 1988-89 to SY 2013-14. (MD/RM)

Main Motion #2: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to increase the duration of the summer holiday (measured from the last day of school to the first day of school) for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years, consistent with the historical average for summer days from SY 1988-89 to SY 2013-14. (MD/IM)

Main Motion #3: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to designate all Federal holidays (established by law under 5 U.S.C. § 6103) as student holidays for SY 2027-28 and subsequent years. (MD/RM)

Main Motion #4: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to, in addition to community engagement required by policy or regulation, establish an advisory committee consisting of community members, modeled on the Boundary Review Advisory Committee and with two representatives from each high school pyramid, to provide feedback on the development and implementation of school year calendars. (RM/IM)

Main Motion #5: I move that the Fairfax County School Board direct the Superintendent to evaluate the potential academic, financial, and operational impacts of a balanced school calendar (for particular schools and pyramids or the division as a whole); in the event the Superintendent finds a balanced school calendar would provide significant benefits (for particular schools and pyramids or the division as a whole), the Superintendent shall solicit community feedback and present her recommendations to the School Board by January 2027. (MD/RM)

I’m so confused by Motion #3 because last month, wasn’t Dunne the one who had the calendar changes to hold school on Veterans Day?

Even if they hated all of these motions, including 5 which would have them studying instituting year-round school, why on earth would they vote down 4? They don't want community feedback on the calendar? What the heck? That's a bad look, even for them.

2 reps from each HS pyramid? Come on, that is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what happened?

Most of these four motions are already part of the calendar policy they’re working on that is just about done. These motions were out of the process and unnecessary- done for public effect but confusing the policy process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain what happened?

Most of these four motions are already part of the calendar policy they’re working on that is just about done. These motions were out of the process and unnecessary- done for public effect but confusing the policy process.

The policy that will ensure that staff will continue to draw up calendars without parental or school board input and just throw them out there for all of us to deal with. So we will continue to have "no school November" and 50 percent or fewer 5-day school weeks. Maybe we can do that AND add back in half-day Mondays every week. Then the kids can go back to school in mid-July so they can get all those required hours in.

[Anonymous]

Still no word on early release for 26-27

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still no word on early release for 26-27

They won't release that until after the last day of school. As Reid has done in years past.

[Anonymous]

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

[Anonymous]

We all want more 5 day school weeks. This year has been awful.

We want longer summers that start soon after the conclusion of exams. No one wants 5 days off at Memorial Day only to be in school till June 18th.

What a crappy calendar!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still no word on early release for 26-27

They won't release that until after the last day of school. As Reid has done in years past.

And yet somehow, her boosters will be all over this board, saying how parents had “years” to plan their schedules…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, I agree a random Tuesday/Wed off could be a waste, unless families get Monday off and take a weekend trip somewhere, then it would at least be beneficial in some way :lol: But I do like extra Fridays and Mondays as it provides a breather and a "long weekend" even if we don't go anywhere. For me as a parent with 2 diff school drop offs and busy work morning meetings it provides a much needed break too. Less to juggle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all want more 5 day school weeks. This year has been awful.

We want longer summers that start soon after the conclusion of exams. No one wants 5 days off at Memorial Day only to be in school till June 18th.

What a crappy calendar!

5 days off will allow you to get cheaper travel to go somewhere when the rest of the country is not able to take this time off. It's not all that wasteful if you think about it. We used to live in a different place with more school choices where we had a schedule that was not aligned with public schools/private schools schedules. We were able to score much cheaper airfare/accommodations when going on vacations and also could see or far away family without paying crazy fares to travel during large holiday breaks like Christmas/NY or summertime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong with the calendar? It's good to have more days off to give both families and teachers a breather from the miserable daily grind. As a parent, I don't understand why parents of older kids who do not need babysitting (I get it when parents need daycare) want more school days.

My other concern is teachers unavailability to timely grade tests/assignments and post for parental review as is. Even with all the days dedicated to having teachers catch up on this work, they don't have ability to do this already, grades can be lagging weeks, which makes it difficult for the parents to assess when their child needs help. There is already little to no communications between schools/teachers and parents when kids aren't doing well or fail before things get worse (due to delayed posting of progress) that it's impossible to catch up or do anything. So, no, I don't want more schools days, more assignments, more prolonged busy work for my kids and myself as a working parent. I want to also have more days for kids to catch up on assignments, on sleep, or to simply decompress, hang out with friends beyond organized activities, etc.

I get it that a lot of parents want longer or around-the-year school situation where kids are out of their hair daily, but this also heavily penalizes families who do not need this and don't want their kids to be punished for absences.

And for this whole thing with more days of school to work, we seriously need to have more teachers, fewer kids per class, to allow teacher to spend time to grade, assess who needs help, provide help to the kids who fail or underperform, provide extra challenges for kids who overachieve and are bored, etc. have ability to contact parents when needed, etc.

You misunderstand. Many parents want kids in schools 5 days a week because all of these 3 or 4 day weeks extend the school year and make summer break shorter.

Exactly. A longer summer provides opportunities for high achieving high school students to do the summer enrichment programs and still start practice for fall sports and have some downtime. A Tuesday at home in Chantilly is a waste compared to a week in New Haven.

Ok, I agree a random Tuesday/Wed off could be a waste, unless families get Monday off and take a weekend trip somewhere, then it would at least be beneficial in some way :lol: But I do like extra Fridays and Mondays as it provides a breather and a "long weekend" even if we don't go anywhere. For me as a parent with 2 diff school drop offs and busy work morning meetings it provides a much needed break too. Less to juggle.

Sure, a long weekend can be nice. But that isn’t what this calendar provided: there were a ton of midweek days off and a very short summer.