How DO we get the calendar changed?
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Anonymous
I'm with you on the early release days and wouldn't mind a shorter winter break. But I don't think the four holidays are really making a difference to learning and having them off is significantly impactful for families in those religions (though Eid can't really be properly calculated and doesn't always end up falling on the day it was predicted/scheduled; and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur sometimes fall on weekends and don't affect schools). Weather closings and delays are frustrating, but feeling frustrated about unpredictable closings is not a reason to throw religious minorities under the bus. |
Anonymous
+1 but Eid is 2 days. There may be other holidays in there too that just are falling on weekends this year. Cummulatively it's a LOT of extra days that only a small % of the FCPS community actually needs to be out for. |
Anonymous
At the same time they added in all the religious holidays, they also threw in Veteran day and the Wednesday before thanksgiving for good measure because, why not have another sort week in November? One a one off the holidays don't seem bad but collectively they add an extra 1.5 weeks to the school year. No to mention, all the religious observance. We never used to have these days off. I would love to see the data on how may kids actually missed school on these holidays and if it was really enough to rationalize adding them to the calendar. The fall is especially disruptive with so many short weeks. |
Anonymous
Those holidays alone are enough to shrink summer break by a week. |
Anonymous
| It’s simply that we can’t have it both ways. Either we keep the religious holidays, or we keep the Federal holidays. Given the employment demographics of the region. I think it makes more sense to have the federal holidays. Religious observation is already an excused absence. |
Anonymous
Lunar New Year doesn’t count as a holiday. Sometimes (like this year) it was treated as a TW. In 2028 they will have school on Lunar New Year (https://www.fcps.edu/system/files/forms/2025-02/2027-2028-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf) |
Anonymous
They will have early release on LNY in ‘28 to be precise. |
Anonymous
Please, it doesn't matter if it's a TW or a holiday. It's another day kids aren't in school and another broken weeksl of school. There's another nonsense TW coming up in the unwanted 5 day Mem Day. |
Anonymous
Well, yes. It aligns with the end of the quarter. |
Anonymous
It does— and it is another non-full week of school. This is why we need to make some trade-offs instead of simply adding days off/early release and moving further and further into summer. |
Anonymous
I love this- 100% percent this!!!! |
Anonymous
This reflects the “delay/stall” tactic. |
Anonymous
See, you want a longer summer, but I like having a 4 day weekend in January during a non-peak travel time. The early dismissal allows us to fly out or drive to our destination on Wednesday. I would prefer the 2027-28 calendar as is over hoarding days off for the summer. That’s why there will never be a calendar that makes everyone happy. Even a compromise will leave people disappointed. |
Anonymous
Exactly this. None of these complaints are academically data driven. They’re all about personal preference. FCPS cares about academics, plain and simple. Find the group you align with, band together, and complain to whoever you please. However, there’s hundreds of thousands of parents and most simply do not care enough to complain. The vocal minority is just, loud. |
Anonymous
And here’s “marginalize” The defenders of the calendar have no academic basis for their defense. So what is their agenda here? |