Will APS close on 4/21?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took one for the team and watched the Board meeting recording.

4/21 is off. Vote was 3-2. Turner and Tapia-Hadley voted no.

Duran said he has "grave concerns" of security and operational disruptions if they are open election day. Staff brought up FCPS closed. Staff said they don't make recommendations lightly, blah, blah. Staff says this will be as much turnout as a general election. Turner and Tapia-Hadley pushed back hard. The other Board members said all the things but then said their priority is keeping students/staff safe.

Did they even address the possibility of swapping around another day off?

They talked about swapping for the grade planning day April 13. Can't because the timing is too off and would mess up 4th quarter. I didn't hear them talk about any other swaps.

[Anonymous]

Kathleen Clark did this kind of faux I'm mad at the county thing when she voted yes to 4/21 off which is a head scratcher. Not sure how this one is the County's fault or where the heck else the County is supposed to put all these polling places.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why APS texts me to read their weekly emails but can't text when there's a major change to the calendar like this. This is an unscheduled day off less than a month from now-- THIS is the kind of thing that deserves a separate tweet/email!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why APS texts me to read their weekly emails but can't text when there's a major change to the calendar like this. This is an unscheduled day off less than a month from now-- THIS is the kind of thing that deserves a separate tweet/email!

It's also the day before spring break when parents have a lot of other things going on.

[Anonymous]

It’s a blip at the top of the Friday 5

[Anonymous]

Did they indicate that after school sports, events, etc can still proceed (as they did in Fairfax)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they indicate that after school sports, events, etc can still proceed (as they did in Fairfax)?

Didn't address this explicitly but I would guess this is a yes given it's a staff professional day etc. The buildings will all be open and staffed.

[Anonymous]

Yes MANY people will return from spring break and maybe figure this out at some point.

Lame.

[Anonymous]

They should really just get rid of the grade planning days - teachers should not be waiting until the last minute to grade and with computers it does not take long to update grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember this from the weather closings! I think the insinuation that everyone that disagrees with you doesn’t work or has married “Dr. Biglaw” is kind of weird. People that have high school kids have also had elementary schoolers. Funny how that works. Get a grip. Maybe YOU shouldn’t have had kids!

And I’m sure the people with HS kids have forgotten what it is like to constantly be stringing together leave and shuffling schedules and paying for camps that add up in order to maintain employment (and the job economy here is currently awful here as a cherry on top).

Just like I’ve already moved well beyond things like daycare waitlists, milk supply, sleep training, tantrums, etc., which now feels like a blip.

But I would never tell parents in the thick of it with babies/toddlers that the days are long but the years are short and they should just deal with it. I’m sure someone with adult kids could come along and tell you your current problems are nbd.

And I’d rather be temporarily grumpy about a calendar change than a smug B.

and you dont know what you don't know. a day off can be a huge benefit for a high school kid. they can study for APs, visit colleges, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kathleen Clark did this kind of faux I'm mad at the county thing when she voted yes to 4/21 off which is a head scratcher. Not sure how this one is the County's fault or where the heck else the County is supposed to put all these polling places.

churches and community centers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should really just get rid of the grade planning days - teachers should not be waiting until the last minute to grade and with computers it does not take long to update grades.

And you know this how? Are you a teacher? Grading and entering them takes a sh*t ton of time at all levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm seeing reports that Fairfax is considering changing their calendar for next year to remove some holidays and early releases to make for more 5-day weeks. Hopefully APS follows them in that plan and fixes next year's calendar. I think there's consensus amongst many parents across both school districts that there's too many breaks and holidays and days off. And that they're too random.

the FCPS school board members are proposing to make Veterans' Day and Indigenous People's Day school days. Won't really help parents whose offices follow federal holidays...

The vast majority of parents aren't on a federal schedule and have to work those days. Veterans Day is one of the causes of "no school November" as it's been coined by the kids. They will already get election day off the week before. They don't need a random Wednesday off the following week.

There are a lot of fed employees and contractors in the area, so probably a higher percent of families have fed holidays off than other metro areas.

I guess the silver lining is I’d finally get a real paid holiday off since as of now the kids are always out of school on my holidays. But I think we should scrap the religious ones too. Including not tying spring break to Easter. I’m non-religious and while I support people’s right to believe whatever they want, I don’t think that should be APS’s priority over creating a cohesive calendar.

+1 to all of this, but I’d rather observe the secular holidays than the religious ones. Schools are not churches, folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember this from the weather closings! I think the insinuation that everyone that disagrees with you doesn’t work or has married “Dr. Biglaw” is kind of weird. People that have high school kids have also had elementary schoolers. Funny how that works. Get a grip. Maybe YOU shouldn’t have had kids!

And I’m sure the people with HS kids have forgotten what it is like to constantly be stringing together leave and shuffling schedules and paying for camps that add up in order to maintain employment (and the job economy here is currently awful here as a cherry on top).

Just like I’ve already moved well beyond things like daycare waitlists, milk supply, sleep training, tantrums, etc., which now feels like a blip.

But I would never tell parents in the thick of it with babies/toddlers that the days are long but the years are short and they should just deal with it. I’m sure someone with adult kids could come along and tell you your current problems are nbd.

And I’d rather be temporarily grumpy about a calendar change than a smug B.

Also, I bet when your kids were little schools didn’t close at random throughout the year to accommodate every religious holiday under the sun.

Have a seat please.
When my kids were little, there was early release once a week every week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should really just get rid of the grade planning days - teachers should not be waiting until the last minute to grade and with computers it does not take long to update grades.

And you know this how? Are you a teacher? Grading and entering them takes a sh*t ton of time at all levels.

Yes. And “back in the day,” we only had to enter one grade per subject each quarter. Now there are several per subject. It’s much more work.