FCPS Early Release Mondays

[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 guess teachers would push back against shortening their summer, even for extra pay.

Teachers have summer plans as well. You just can’t tell them to attend training when they’re off contract.

I know two teachers that are attending training next week. How are they doing that?

The summer basal training is paid and optional. All other summer trainings are optional and typically unpaid.

I heard basal pay is just a stipend....is that incorrect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 guess teachers would push back against shortening their summer, even for extra pay.

Teachers have summer plans as well. You just can’t tell them to attend training when they’re off contract.

I know two teachers that are attending training next week. How are they doing that?

The summer basal training is paid and optional. All other summer trainings are optional and typically unpaid.

I heard basal pay is just a stipend....is that incorrect?

If you are defining stipend as a fixed payment, then yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 guess teachers would push back against shortening their summer, even for extra pay.

Teachers have summer plans as well. You just can’t tell them to attend training when they’re off contract.

I know two teachers that are attending training next week. How are they doing that?

The summer basal training is paid and optional. All other summer trainings are optional and typically unpaid.

I heard basal pay is just a stipend....is that incorrect?

The basal training is 3 days from 8:30 to 4 with an unpaid hour lunch. The pay is $25 per hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 guess teachers would push back against shortening their summer, even for extra pay.

Teachers have summer plans as well. You just can’t tell them to attend training when they’re off contract.

I know two teachers that are attending training next week. How are they doing that?

The summer basal training is paid and optional. All other summer trainings are optional and typically unpaid.

Technically the basal training isn’t optional. They gave us the option of doing it during the summer with a pay incentive. It will still need to be done by those who chose not to go in the summer.

[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?

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.

FCPS has no choice. Several hours of mandatory training are required by the state. The training has to be done during contract hours. The other PD and TWD are also required. FCPS is not going to remove all of the extra religious holidays or they will be sued for not being equitable. Stop complaining, make childcare arrangements, or take up the FCPS offer for free care at school by other staff during the early release Mondays.

[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.

Exactly. Please stop bashing FCPS for completing MANDATORY STATE training. They can never win.

[Anonymous]

It's a mandatory state training that's self-paced? Why do they need days off at all? Is it in the union agreement to provide pay for state licensure agreements?

I am in a profession that has state licensing requirements and I just deal with it, like anyone else that needs to be licensed to work in their job. My job doesn't pay for me to complete these requirements or for my annual licensing fees. I don't really see why FCPS needs to do this at all.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, my sentence got garbled

* Is it in the union agreement to provide paid time for teachers to complete state licensure requirements?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a mandatory state training that's self-paced? Why do they need days off at all? Is it in the union agreement to provide pay for state licensure agreements?

I am in a profession that has state licensing requirements and I just deal with it, like anyone else that needs to be licensed to work in their job. My job doesn't pay for me to complete these requirements or for my annual licensing fees. I don't really see why FCPS needs to do this at all.

There is no union agreement with the state. There is no “state union”. Currently there are also no union agreements with FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a mandatory state training that's self-paced? Why do they need days off at all? Is it in the union agreement to provide pay for state licensure agreements?

I am in a profession that has state licensing requirements and I just deal with it, like anyone else that needs to be licensed to work in their job. My job doesn't pay for me to complete these requirements or for my annual licensing fees. I don't really see why FCPS needs to do this at all.

There are state licensing agreements for which we do not get paid,, such as CPR/AED, child abuse prevention and reporting, etc. We also are not reimbursed for licensing fees.

These modules are 27-32 hours of training, in addition to the other training requirements. This is not the same as licensing requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a mandatory state training that's self-paced? Why do they need days off at all? Is it in the union agreement to provide pay for state licensure agreements?

I am in a profession that has state licensing requirements and I just deal with it, like anyone else that needs to be licensed to work in their job. My job doesn't pay for me to complete these requirements or for my annual licensing fees. I don't really see why FCPS needs to do this at all.

There are state licensing agreements for which we do not get paid,, such as CPR/AED, child abuse prevention and reporting, etc. We also are not reimbursed for licensing fees.

These modules are 27-32 hours of training, in addition to the other training requirements. This is not the same as licensing requirements.

+1, my license doesn’t expire for eight years so I would just wait eight years to do this training … IF it was required for licensing. The state is requiring that this training be done within a much shorter timeframe.

[Anonymous]

What I’m curious about is how this training affects teachers that will be entering the workforce either new teachers, career switches or out-of-state transfers in a couple years? Or someone like me, I’m on a leave of absence this year, so I won’t be returning till the following school year.

[Anonymous]

I’m curious, why do teachers need to be paid for their continuing education?

Here’s an idea, teachers unite, develop a curriculum based on what they learned in college and while teaching? They would be able to do what they love, their school would be attended by children whose families actually looking for their kids to receive an education, not just childcare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

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.

FCPS has no choice. Several hours of mandatory training are required by the state. The training has to be done during contract hours. The other PD and TWD are also required. FCPS is not going to remove all of the extra religious holidays or they will be sued for not being equitable. Stop complaining, make childcare arrangements, or take up the FCPS offer for free care at school by other staff during the early release Mondays.

It is a public school. They do not have to recognize every or ANY religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious, why do teachers need to be paid for their continuing education?

Here’s an idea, teachers unite, develop a curriculum based on what they learned in college and while teaching? They would be able to do what they love, their school would be attended by children whose families actually looking for their kids to receive an education, not just childcare.

That’s just private school - and you can chose go to one.