Reply to 2020-2021 Proposed Calendar Options

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "2020-2021 Proposed Calendar Options"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Option 2 all the way.  Option 1 is okay, too. But I like the idea of easing in with a shorter week.  My kids are always dead tired the first few weeks, even though they go to summer camps.

If they don't start until the day of such a late Labor Day, teachers won't get a paycheck until almost October![/quote]

Very good point. I’m the two-teacher family poster from earlier. Our first paychecks were today. It was a bit rough after 9/1 despite careful budgeting because we had three huge unexpected expenses in late August and my DD fractured her wrist the second day of school so that was $150/copay alone.[/quote]

Can’t you choose to spread your pay out over 12 months?[/quote]

Nope.  Years ago it was an option, but then it was discontinued for new teachers, and eventually dropped all together.  We're a two-teacher family, but I have some summer days.  That's enough to cover the basic bills, and of course we budget and sock away "summer money" all year, but DH still ends up doing Door Dash and grocery delivery to keep us from dipping into our long term savings by the end of the summer.  We love summer as much as anyone, but having an early end and then a late start complicates our financials.  With that third option, our first paycheck would be September 25![/quote]

I’m the poster whose daughter fractured her wrist. We live a pretty frugal life by preference and are incredibly careful, but it’s almost impossible to live in MoCo as a two teacher family without inherited money or working during the summer. Due to serious health issues that DH is dealing with, neither of us worked this summer (except the two mandated salary days). If we hadn’t had the big emergencies all in a three week period, we would have just squeaked by. But I put back basic groceries like fresh produce and BLSL chicken thighs on Tuesday because I had less than $10 in our checking account. It was pretty uncomfortable. We both grew up poor and can cook on a shoestring, but I didn’t want my DD to notice.  [/quote]

All of the things you cite are things that I experience as a single mom -- tight budget, unexpected health costs, etc.  I'm too poor to even consider Door Dash and grocery delivery! With today's electronic banking and savings sweeps, you can easily make your own 12 month salary. In fact, that's preferable to having the county do it for you because you can sweep those savings to a fund that at least earns something while you wait to use it in summer.

TBH, many teachers have summer jobs or side gigs.  There is a lot you can do in 3 months in the summer, especially if you teach math or reading/writing.

The expectation that the county should pick a calendar based on your financial needs, is a bit narcissistic IMO. [/quote]

If you read my first comment, I noted that starting earlier is better for students taking AP.

And my DH and I didn’t work this summer because he’s undergoing cancer treatments. BTDT, too? If so, you’ll understand when I say that we had all we could handle on our plates daily.

I was a low income single mom for a number of years so I don’t think the discomfort we experienced this summer makes us special. I just think the September paychecks are a situation that MCPS knows impacts its teachers and other 10 month employees every year and refuses to fix.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics