FCPS Early Release Mondays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

Talk to the Youngkin administration. They’re the ones that don’t have the training ready and will be releasing it one module at a time throughout the year.

This is how Youngkin ran too- attack the schools so every gets mad at them. In this case: give the schools an impossible assignment and let everyone get mad at them before a huge election.

Well played, but absolute d!#$ move.

[Anonymous]

https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/55434/638544800144830000#page5

See third sentence of last paragraph on page 6 of 14:

"All Canvas modules for an educator group will be released [i]at the same time to encourage
individualized pacing, and completion time will vary on the participant’s pacing and the content of the
module."

However, on the previous page (page 5 of 14), under Professional Development:

"As part of this training, Canvas courses designed for different audiences are being offered
beginning June 2024. The courses are self-paced and[b] recommended to be taken one per month. Please
see the chart below for the Canvas Course offerings and estimated date of release."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

You’re not really addressing the PPs point. Is it important to be in school or not? If 21 hours was wholly irrelevant to instruction why shouldn’t parents pull their kids on the three days that makes sense for them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

You’re not really addressing the PPs point. Is it important to be in school or not? If 21 hours was wholly irrelevant to instruction why shouldn’t parents pull their kids on the three days that makes sense for them?

It’s important to be in school when instruction is occuring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

You’re not really addressing the PPs point. Is it important to be in school or not? If 21 hours was wholly irrelevant to instruction why shouldn’t parents pull their kids on the three days that makes sense for them?

It’s important to be in school when instruction is occuring.

So, before this decision, instruction was occurring during those seven Monday afternoons. Now it’s totally fine not to be there. So I guess not all that much instruction is taking place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

You’re not really addressing the PPs point. Is it important to be in school or not? If 21 hours was wholly irrelevant to instruction why shouldn’t parents pull their kids on the three days that makes sense for them?

Obviously it’s important but every single school district has had to exchange some instructional time to manage this STATE LEVEL REQUIREMENT. Every district. For LCPS it’s just 4 entire days. For FCPS it’s 7 half days. However you cut it, the state instituted a requirement that necessitates cutting instructional time to make it happen. It’s an issue with the state you have, not your individual district. It’s 32 hours of mandatory training that had to come from somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/55434/638544800144830000#page5

See third sentence of last paragraph on page 6 of 14:

"All Canvas modules for an educator group will be released [i]at the same time to encourage
individualized pacing, and completion time will vary on the participant’s pacing and the content of the
module."

However, on the previous page (page 5 of 14), under Professional Development:

"As part of this training, Canvas courses designed for different audiences are being offered
beginning June 2024. The courses are self-paced and[b] recommended to be taken one per month. Please
see the chart below for the Canvas Course offerings and estimated date of release."

Thanks for this! I would so much rather take OG than anything and I hope it isn’t any extra money to do that! UVA is a bit confused right now about literacy. Their new pals (Val’s?) was a nightmare in our first roll out for Prek 2 years ago. It was like they didn’t understand children at all in the real world when they wrote it. I will say, they listen led a little and threw out the most egregious tests. but they are still building the wheel rather than going with solid practices.

As a teacher I would say go for OG or LETRS before the UVA if you are given a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of doing this Monday garbage, why not just move through start of school later? No on wants to start school on Aug 19 anyway. Leave it to FCPS to ruin a good thing (more planning for teachers) by picking the most inconvenient and painful implementation.

Pushing back the start date of school by a week or several days would violate IEPs. The iEPS are all written with services beginning on the first day of school per the calendar that sped teacher had. FCPS cannot do this. I wish they could! But they can't, because of special education services.

They did it the second year of COVID, when the start of school was pushed back 2 weeks until after Labor Day. Maybe there was some sort of waiver, no idea. Just saying it's been done before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/55434/638544800144830000#page5

See third sentence of last paragraph on page 6 of 14:

"All Canvas modules for an educator group will be released [i]at the same time to encourage
individualized pacing, and completion time will vary on the participant’s pacing and the content of the
module."

However, on the previous page (page 5 of 14), under Professional Development:

"As part of this training, Canvas courses designed for different audiences are being offered
beginning June 2024. The courses are self-paced and[b] recommended to be taken one per month. Please
see the chart below for the Canvas Course offerings and estimated date of release."

Thanks for this! I would so much rather take OG than anything and I hope it isn’t any extra money to do that! UVA is a bit confused right now about literacy. Their new pals (Val’s?) was a nightmare in our first roll out for Prek 2 years ago. It was like they didn’t understand children at all in the real world when they wrote it. I will say, they listen led a little and threw out the most egregious tests. but they are still building the wheel rather than going with solid practices.

As a teacher I would say go for OG or LETRS before the UVA if you are given a choice.

An OG course costs about $1500.

[Anonymous]

I take it none of you political hacks went to the meetings this week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I take it none of you political hacks went to the meetings this week?

Just proof that they don’t really care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

You’re not really addressing the PPs point. Is it important to be in school or not? If 21 hours was wholly irrelevant to instruction why shouldn’t parents pull their kids on the three days that makes sense for them?

Obviously it’s important but every single school district has had to exchange some instructional time to manage this STATE LEVEL REQUIREMENT. Every district. For LCPS it’s just 4 entire days. For FCPS it’s 7 half days. However you cut it, the state instituted a requirement that necessitates cutting instructional time to make it happen. It’s an issue with the state you have, not your individual district. It’s 32 hours of mandatory training that had to come from somewhere.

The problem is my individual district didn’t consult parents. LCPS did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

You’re not really addressing the PPs point. Is it important to be in school or not? If 21 hours was wholly irrelevant to instruction why shouldn’t parents pull their kids on the three days that makes sense for them?

Obviously it’s important but every single school district has had to exchange some instructional time to manage this STATE LEVEL REQUIREMENT. Every district. For LCPS it’s just 4 entire days. For FCPS it’s 7 half days. However you cut it, the state instituted a requirement that necessitates cutting instructional time to make it happen. It’s an issue with the state you have, not your individual district. It’s 32 hours of mandatory training that had to come from somewhere.

The problem is my individual district didn’t consult parents. LCPS did.

Ok, it’s done now. There’s not much you can do at this point beyond putting a plan together for those days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think this whole thing is ironic. FCPS had a big push this year to address chronic absenteeism because being in school was sooooo important.

We heard about the importance of being in school all year long, signs, flyers, emails, awards!

And then bam - 1/2 day Mondays. It seems super hypocritical. Pay the teachers to get the training outside of instructional hours. If it is so important to do this training do it over the summer (1 and 1/2 times pay) so it can be implemented next year. Come on! Guess kids next year don’t need this.

I'll take "Out of Touch with Reality" for 1000, Alex!

Let's unpack all the issues with your post:

1. Teachers do not need to work outside instructional hours, even if parents think they should.

2. For most teachers, summers are already planned out. Some teachers travel, some spend time with family, some work a summer job, and others have curriculum development commitments.

3. You think FCPS is going to pay teachers 1.5 times their hourly rate? That's hilarious. Most teachers get paid $20-$25/hour for trainings outside contract hours, so after taxes, some make less than $15/hour.

4. The VDOE modules aren't even available yet, so how do you expect teachers to complete them all over the summer? Should they manifest them from positive thinking and wishes to appease you?

5. It isn't as though every Monday is an early release (not a half-day, but an early release). It's seven Mondays for the entire year. Seven. While those seven are in addition to a few Monday holidays FCPS observes, it's still only seven early release days.

You’re not really addressing the PPs point. Is it important to be in school or not? If 21 hours was wholly irrelevant to instruction why shouldn’t parents pull their kids on the three days that makes sense for them?

Obviously it’s important but every single school district has had to exchange some instructional time to manage this STATE LEVEL REQUIREMENT. Every district. For LCPS it’s just 4 entire days. For FCPS it’s 7 half days. However you cut it, the state instituted a requirement that necessitates cutting instructional time to make it happen. It’s an issue with the state you have, not your individual district. It’s 32 hours of mandatory training that had to come from somewhere.

The problem is my individual district didn’t consult parents. LCPS did.

So, you went to the steering committee meeting last night to have your voice heard and contribute right? Right…?