CALENDAR: O days and new material

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These O days are a total waste of time. Guess my kids will be missing school on those days.

Once again, the School Board is only good at keeping kids out of school.

No, the SB wanted to cherry pick holidays celebrated by a small % of the district and just give those 4 days off for religious reasons. FCPS lawyers basically said it's a lawsuit waiting to happen and so came up with O days. It is FCPS that made the ridiculous decision not to allow any actual teaching to happen those days rather than just saying "no assessments or special events with opportunity to make up assignments for a week". THAT would have been a 100% reasonable policy and sounded a lot like what they actually planned to do from the initial press release - the additional guidance teachers have posted is WAY more restrictive than FCPS initially implied in its announcement about this.

As someone who has kids that will be observing Rosh Hashanah on Tuesday and Yom Kippur next week, I was perfectly fine with them missing new work, provided that there was a way to catch up within a reasonable amount of time. With block scheduling, an 80 minute class spent not teaching just seems ridiculous to me.

The SB needs to hear from people like you. The input that ample time to catch up missed new teaching - coupled with no assessments or big 1 time activities on the holidays - is what they need to hear in order to dial this back to reasonable and they need to hear it from peopel that have a dog in the fight on the relevant holidays.

The schoolboard formed a committee that spent months, perhaps even the past year, to come up with exactly that recommendation. But then the school board completely ignored the committe's recommendation and came up with this crazy mess of zero days, most of which are not celebrated as a major holiday for any of the fcps families. The committee took input from faith and community leaders, as well as other things like demographics and attendance.

Sorry, but you people REALLY need to start paying attention to the school board meetings and agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like it would have been easier to just have the four originally proposed days off.

Easier yes. Legal. No.

Then again, this is very much not legal.

The O days are not legal in the slightest. They are picking and choosing religious holidays to honor w/o a secular basis. Their own data do not support these days. Their own lawyers told them not to do it.

Is there a legal challenge in the works?

What law are they breaking?

Establishment Clause of the Constitution

Freedom of religion includes the right to be free from religion. Here, FCPS is favoring some religions over others. And worse, is forcing all learning to pause based on religious holidays without a compelling secular reason. Absolutely illegal.

I hope someone is suing.

[Anonymous]

Does this apply to kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like it would have been easier to just have the four originally proposed days off.

Easier yes. Legal. No.

Then again, this is very much not legal.

The O days are not legal in the slightest. They are picking and choosing religious holidays to honor w/o a secular basis. Their own data do not support these days. Their own lawyers told them not to do it.

Is there a legal challenge in the works?

What law are they breaking?

Establishment Clause of the Constitution

Freedom of religion includes the right to be free from religion. Here, FCPS is favoring some religions over others. And worse, is forcing all learning to pause based on religious holidays without a compelling secular reason. Absolutely illegal.

I hope someone is suing.

The school is not pushing religion onto children (or favoring one over another) - so the establishment clause doesn't hold water; the law says ONE religion. If anything we were breaking the law earlier by building the calendar around Christian holidays.

Please point to the exact law for "forcing all learning to pause based on religious holidays without a compelling secular reason".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to kindergarten?

Yes, it applies to the entire county - Pre-K through 12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like it would have been easier to just have the four originally proposed days off.

Easier yes. Legal. No.

Then again, this is very much not legal.

The O days are not legal in the slightest. They are picking and choosing religious holidays to honor w/o a secular basis. Their own data do not support these days. Their own lawyers told them not to do it.

Is there a legal challenge in the works?

What law are they breaking?

Establishment Clause of the Constitution

Freedom of religion includes the right to be free from religion. Here, FCPS is favoring some religions over others. And worse, is forcing all learning to pause based on religious holidays without a compelling secular reason. Absolutely illegal.

I hope someone is suing.

The school is not pushing religion onto children (or favoring one over another) - so the establishment clause doesn't hold water; the law says ONE religion. If anything we were breaking the law earlier by building the calendar around Christian holidays.

Please point to the exact law for "forcing all learning to pause based on religious holidays without a compelling secular reason".

https://www.aclu.org/other/your-right-religious-freedom

Fails the Lemon Test. Overly involves government in religion (by mandating learning stop) and promotes certain religious beliefs by picking amd choosing what religions get O days.

Christmas break is okay because it is based on operational concerns— too many kids and teachers would be absent to hold school.

Probably best to decouple spring break. But, IDK about Good Friday. I’m Catholic and my family would miss that day. Not sure if it’s widespread enough to justify a day off.

[Anonymous]

I was raised Catholic in Massachusetts and we had school on Good Friday, I don’t know anyone who took it off. The town I was in was really, really Catholic. I don’t know the percentage but there were not too many other religions that I knew that were celebrated. There were 2 Catholic Churches in town but you had to go a few towns over to find a Protestant Church and even further for a Synagogue. I did not even know that there was a Muslim faith as a kid. It was the 1980’s in small town Massachusetts, kind of insular. The fact that I attended a few Bar Mitzvah’s was considered amazing by my friends at school. And the ones I attended where in family friends in Chicago.

I don’t know when people started missing school for Good Friday, most people just went to Church in the evening for Good Friday and Ash Wednesday. I think I made that choice as a college student after encountering people who took Good Friday off. Although, many of them took Good Friday off so they could head home for Easter early and less for religious reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic in Massachusetts and we had school on Good Friday, I don’t know anyone who took it off. The town I was in was really, really Catholic. I don’t know the percentage but there were not too many other religions that I knew that were celebrated. There were 2 Catholic Churches in town but you had to go a few towns over to find a Protestant Church and even further for a Synagogue. I did not even know that there was a Muslim faith as a kid. It was the 1980’s in small town Massachusetts, kind of insular. The fact that I attended a few Bar Mitzvah’s was considered amazing by my friends at school. And the ones I attended where in family friends in Chicago.

I don’t know when people started missing school for Good Friday, most people just went to Church in the evening for Good Friday and Ash Wednesday. I think I made that choice as a college student after encountering people who took Good Friday off. Although, many of them took Good Friday off so they could head home for Easter early and less for religious reasons.

I grew up in St. Louis. It is a very, very Catholic town.

I don't recall any public schools having good Friday off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to kindergarten?

Yes, it applies to the entire county - Pre-K through 12.

Hmm…so I can’t introduce a new letter? What if everyone is in class and no absences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to kindergarten?

Yes, it applies to the entire county - Pre-K through 12.

Hmm…so I can’t introduce a new letter? What if everyone is in class and no absences?

My guess would that this would be inequitable to people in other classes, and would be therefore prohibited, but this is a question worth asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to kindergarten?

Yes, it applies to the entire county - Pre-K through 12.

Hmm…so I can’t introduce a new letter? What if everyone is in class and no absences?

Upper ES teacher. You can not teach new content even if your whole class is there. It is dumb. I am saying this as a Jew who is taking off next week for the holidays. The school board needs to fix this regulation to no assessments or major events. New content will be taught and teachers will give students who are out time to make up assignments. That is a fair and equitable plan that literally everyone would support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to kindergarten?

Yes, it applies to the entire county - Pre-K through 12.

Hmm…so I can’t introduce a new letter? What if everyone is in class and no absences?

Upper ES teacher. You can not teach new content even if your whole class is there. It is dumb. I am saying this as a Jew who is taking off next week for the holidays. The school board needs to fix this regulation to no assessments or major events. New content will be taught and teachers will give students who are out time to make up assignments. That is a fair and equitable plan that literally everyone would support.

Ok. I don’t understand why it can’t just apply to older grades who get assessed. In kindergarten EVERYTHING is new right now. And gets reviewed so why can’t I introduce a letter on Tuesday knowing we will review it again on Wednesday Thursday and the rest of the year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like it would have been easier to just have the four originally proposed days off.

Easier yes. Legal. No.

Then again, this is very much not legal.

The O days are not legal in the slightest. They are picking and choosing religious holidays to honor w/o a secular basis. Their own data do not support these days. Their own lawyers told them not to do it.

Is there a legal challenge in the works?

What law are they breaking?

Establishment Clause of the Constitution

Freedom of religion includes the right to be free from religion. Here, FCPS is favoring some religions over others. And worse, is forcing all learning to pause based on religious holidays without a compelling secular reason. Absolutely illegal.

I hope someone is suing.

The school is not pushing religion onto children (or favoring one over another) - so the establishment clause doesn't hold water; the law says ONE religion. If anything we were breaking the law earlier by building the calendar around Christian holidays.

Please point to the exact law for "forcing all learning to pause based on religious holidays without a compelling secular reason".

https://www.aclu.org/other/your-right-religious-freedom

Fails the Lemon Test. Overly involves government in religion (by mandating learning stop) and promotes certain religious beliefs by picking amd choosing what religions get O days.

Christmas break is okay because it is based on operational concerns— too many kids and teachers would be absent to hold school.

Probably best to decouple spring break. But, IDK about Good Friday. I’m Catholic and my family would miss that day. Not sure if it’s widespread enough to justify a day off.

Having the kids complete study guides, allowing time for extra reading, completing practice problems, or editing a short story is not stopping learning- so that disproves your point. It’s still education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this apply to kindergarten?

Yes, it applies to the entire county - Pre-K through 12.

Hmm…so I can’t introduce a new letter? What if everyone is in class and no absences?

Upper ES teacher. You can not teach new content even if your whole class is there. It is dumb. I am saying this as a Jew who is taking off next week for the holidays. The school board needs to fix this regulation to no assessments or major events. New content will be taught and teachers will give students who are out time to make up assignments. That is a fair and equitable plan that literally everyone would support.

Ok. I don’t understand why it can’t just apply to older grades who get assessed. In kindergarten EVERYTHING is new right now. And gets reviewed so why can’t I introduce a letter on Tuesday knowing we will review it again on Wednesday Thursday and the rest of the year?

Technically you can. If you will be revisiting it throughout the week and year. I am reviewing math concepts that were taught last year that i would normally do.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. I’ll be teaching new content and offering to stay late with anyone who needs additional support. I’ll go into greater detail with rigor the new content after the O day. But I am not doing zilch on those days.