Reply to Why does FCPS have all these random days of week off???

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I looked at the posted survey results. The fact that only 23% of the parents responded is problematic. I would guess that parents who wanted to add religious holidays were far more incentivized to participate then parents who had no real idea that there was a chance that we would add how many religious holidays as days off.

And I don't see a question on there regarding adding days off for religious holidays across the board. The question was new days off and extending the school year or adding async days. There was no option for not adding new days off or anything that said that the new days off would be for every religious groups day of importance. There was no place to say "I don't want new days added" except the comments. I know that I specifically said that I was not in favor of adding any new holidays in my comment section. Not to mention, the add new days and extend the school year did not get over 50% in any of the populations surveyed. I suspect that the only reason Option B, the asynch days BS, was so high was because there was no option for don't add new days at all.

Essentially, the survey did not allow anyone to say that they didn't want to add days. The Board wanted to add in a ton of religious holidays because the O day idea was so poorly developed and implemented, that the Board just added those days with no real input from anyone other then the various religious leaders that wanted those days. Had the board created a decent O day policy, no tests and assignments due on those days and maybe even the day after the O days so kids participating in said religious activity didn't feel like they had to work on the O day, and left it at that most folks would have been happy. Instead we end up with this ridiculous schedule based on the argument that Christmas is always off so every religious group should have a day off.

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There were very vocal groups clamoring for the calendar with added religious days off. This was mainly Jewish groups to get YK and RH off, as they had been disappointed with the vote last year. I think the rest of the religious days added were so that the school board would look fair and balanced like it wasn't just catering to the Jewish advocates. So here we are. [/quote]

I get that. I know that is what happened. But then what is the point of the survey when we are not going to listen to them? They had to add all the other religious holidays to cover their butts, not being inclusive when you add one set of religious holidays would have been an immediate no go for obvious reasons. It is ridiculous that the calendar is as poorly structured as it is and has so few full weeks because one group wants its religion recognized on the calendar. the Christmas is in Winter Break is a tired argument. It is a Federal Holiday, should it be a Federal Holiday? I have no clue. Probably not. But it is. Spring Break should have been removed from the Easter holidays ages ago, that is a welcome change. And the response to that was "Let's screw up the rest of the calendar by adding a day for every group because Christmas."

I am sorry but it is BS. The calendar is a mess. Hopefully more then 23% of the parents will respond this year and clearly type in the comments section that they want the religious holidays as days off gone. Because it is not going to be asked about in the actual questions. [/quote]

Do we need an entire week before Christmas off? No, we do not. My family has never needed a full week before [i]and[/i] after Christmas to celebrate it. Why we need to start Winter Break on Monday, December 19, instead of, say, Friday, December 23, is beyond me. The week between Christmas and New Years is enough of a break and worth closing for attendance, but I don't know anyone who travels as early as Monday for a holiday the following Sunday.[/quote]

Many people do travel days or weeks before Christmas. There are also many people traveling to see international family during the break, even adding on weeks. Both Indian and Central American families do this frequently. [/quote]

If people want to take these long trips during the school year they can choose to take unexcused absences. Why are we building the calendar around this? It’s absurd. Why should people get a long break AND their personal religious holidays off? Pick one or the other. And that goes for Christians too. [/quote]

Agreed! Parent of elementary kids here and I detest that week. Bad weather, hyper kids, and a job I'm still expected to perform. Great for the holiday spirit  :roll: [/quote]

I don't what has happened but people in this area have really lost all common sense. It didn't used to be this way and it isn't like this in other areas (blue states, BTW). Winter break is shorter and there are some but not all religious holidays off, and people deal with it. Trying to please everyone just ends up making everyone (except for a vocal minority) mad. It's pointless. This obsession with equity is making everything worse. I hope we get some more moderate, common-sense candidates for the school board, but I have little faith in that happening with the local political parties playing such a large role in who runs and who gets endorsed.[/quote]

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