At the November meeting MCPS stated that they weren't proposing an earlier start date for this coming fall because that wouldn't be enough notice and bc they just changed the bell times it would be too much change at once. And then a month later they propose to change the start date...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will someone please, please consider the "traditional international time for family vacations!" Its the TRADITIONAL TIME. I'm so tired of MCPS interfering with the traditional time for us to travel to Europe or Mexico for vacations.

It's the traditional time in DC because we're a company town and Congress is shuttered in late August. This year the Senate's last day is 8/10. Lobbyists, staffers, attorneys - anyone who works with Congress on a regular basis gets a breather after the 10th. The 10th is apparently a Wed, so if you need to finish out the work week, you cannot take a 2 week vacation (anywhere, even at Grandma's) and get to school on 8/24, which is really 8/23 for those elementary schools that don't announce teachers until the day before school starts.

It's not only about fancy international travel.

No, we're not. The DC metropolitan area is not a company town. Not even the Montgomery County part of the DC metropolitan area it is a company town. In 2012-2013, about 47,000 Montgomery County residents received wages from the federal government. The population of Montgomery County is just over one million. I do not think that the MCPS school schedule should be based on allowing people who work with Congress to take a two-week vacation in August.

DCPS has started 2 weeks before labor day for the last couple of years.

I would like consistency and rational decision making. Is that too much to ask for?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will someone please, please consider the "traditional international time for family vacations!" Its the TRADITIONAL TIME. I'm so tired of MCPS interfering with the traditional time for us to travel to Europe or Mexico for vacations.

It's the traditional time in DC because we're a company town and Congress is shuttered in late August. This year the Senate's last day is 8/10. Lobbyists, staffers, attorneys - anyone who works with Congress on a regular basis gets a breather after the 10th. The 10th is apparently a Wed, so if you need to finish out the work week, you cannot take a 2 week vacation (anywhere, even at Grandma's) and get to school on 8/24, which is really 8/23 for those elementary schools that don't announce teachers until the day before school starts.

It's not only about fancy international travel.

No, we're not. The DC metropolitan area is not a company town. Not even the Montgomery County part of the DC metropolitan area it is a company town. In 2012-2013, about 47,000 Montgomery County residents received wages from the federal government. The population of Montgomery County is just over one million. I do not think that the MCPS school schedule should be based on allowing people who work with Congress to take a two-week vacation in August.

Do you actively think school should start earlier? Or are you just chiding us for our 1st World Problems?

I'm saying that the MCPS school schedule should not be based on Congress's schedule.

Anonymous wrote:There are some summer camps with an extremely loyal following, and few open slots for new campers each year. They have registration in November and you are SOL if you don't take your slot.

I think the sentiment here is that if more people have time to think about the change, or even realize that there is a proposed change, the BOE will get enough negative feedback to rethink the start date change. Of course, that presumes that a large number of parents would be alarmed if informed.

If the BOE completely ignores public opinion, we should elect a new BOE.

I don't think that this assumption is correct.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will someone please, please consider the "traditional international time for family vacations!" Its the TRADITIONAL TIME. I'm so tired of MCPS interfering with the traditional time for us to travel to Europe or Mexico for vacations.

It's the traditional time in DC because we're a company town and Congress is shuttered in late August. This year the Senate's last day is 8/10. Lobbyists, staffers, attorneys - anyone who works with Congress on a regular basis gets a breather after the 10th. The 10th is apparently a Wed, so if you need to finish out the work week, you cannot take a 2 week vacation (anywhere, even at Grandma's) and get to school on 8/24, which is really 8/23 for those elementary schools that don't announce teachers until the day before school starts.

It's not only about fancy international travel.

No, we're not. The DC metropolitan area is not a company town. Not even the Montgomery County part of the DC metropolitan area it is a company town. In 2012-2013, about 47,000 Montgomery County residents received wages from the federal government. The population of Montgomery County is just over one million. I do not think that the MCPS school schedule should be based on allowing people who work with Congress to take a two-week vacation in August.

Do you actively think school should start earlier? Or are you just chiding us for our 1st World Problems?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So for at least 15 years MCPS has started one week before Labor Day. Now they want to start almost two weeks before and they are only giving three days notice that the BOE will be voting on this Tuesday. This is a significant change with no opportunity for public input.

Starting school a few days earlier is "a significant change"?

It works out to essentially mean a week less of summer, I think that is significant.

Agreed. And camp and sports are already scheduled based on the previous proposal.

If school starts earlier, camp and sports will reschedule.

Yes, the camps will reschedule so that there is no care available for anyone on 8/22 or 23. More delight for working parents who are not on vacation.

There are some summer camps with an extremely loyal following, and few open slots for new campers each year. They have registration in November and you are SOL if you don't take your slot.

I think the sentiment here is that if more people have time to think about the change, or even realize that there is a proposed change, the BOE will get enough negative feedback to rethink the start date change. Of course, that presumes that a large number of parents would be alarmed if informed.

If the BOE completely ignores public opinion, we should elect a new BOE.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

No there is not enough advanced notice. My child is signed up for sleep away camp and I relied on the calendar released a year ago. I understand this doesn't inconvenience everyone but it does inconvenience some. The main point is that there was not enough time for soliciting public input. [/quote]

Your child is already signed up for sleep-away camp next August? Is it a standard thing to sign up for sleep-away camp by the beginning of December?

Suppose they scheduled two weeks for public input -- or however long you think is enough time -- after which they decided to adopt the proposed start date? Then what would you do?[/quote]

Yes. It is standard to sign up by December for sleep away camp.

There should be a public comment period. It should be publicized and the BOE can hear from a broad group of people. If your point is that the outcome could be the same, that is possible. But the process needs to take into account public opinion. There was no such process here.

[quote=Anonymous]

No there is not enough advanced notice. My child is signed up for sleep away camp and I relied on the calendar released a year ago. I understand this doesn't inconvenience everyone but it does inconvenience some. The main point is that there was not enough time for soliciting public input. [/quote]

Your child is already signed up for sleep-away camp next August? Is it a standard thing to sign up for sleep-away camp by the beginning of December?

Suppose they scheduled two weeks for public input -- or however long you think is enough time -- after which they decided to adopt the proposed start date? Then what would you do?

It's December and this calendar is delayed byond what is reasonable after a last-minute political move by the BOE. I don't mind recognizing EID, but this is a cluster.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So for at least 15 years MCPS has started one week before Labor Day. Now they want to start almost two weeks before and they are only giving three days notice that the BOE will be voting on this Tuesday. This is a significant change with no opportunity for public input. [/quote]

Starting school a few days earlier is "a significant change"? [/quote]

It works out to essentially mean a week less of summer, I think that is significant.[/quote]

Agreed. And camp and sports are already scheduled based on the previous proposal. [/quote]

If school starts earlier, camp and sports will reschedule.[/quote]

No there is not enough advanced notice. My child is signed up for sleep away camp and I relied on the calendar released a year ago. I understand this doesn't inconvenience everyone but it does inconvenience some. The main point is that there was not enough time for soliciting public input.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So for at least 15 years MCPS has started one week before Labor Day. Now they want to start almost two weeks before and they are only giving three days notice that the BOE will be voting on this Tuesday. This is a significant change with no opportunity for public input.

Starting school a few days earlier is "a significant change"?

It works out to essentially mean a week less of summer, I think that is significant.

Last summer was one week more of summer, and there was plenty of complaining about that too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So for at least 15 years MCPS has started one week before Labor Day. Now they want to start almost two weeks before and they are only giving three days notice that the BOE will be voting on this Tuesday. This is a significant change with no opportunity for public input.

Starting school a few days earlier is "a significant change"?

It works out to essentially mean a week less of summer, I think that is significant.

Agreed. And camp and sports are already scheduled based on the previous proposal.

If school starts earlier, camp and sports will reschedule.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will someone please, please consider the "traditional international time for family vacations!" Its the TRADITIONAL TIME. I'm so tired of MCPS interfering with the traditional time for us to travel to Europe or Mexico for vacations.

It's the traditional time in DC because we're a company town and Congress is shuttered in late August. This year the Senate's last day is 8/10. Lobbyists, staffers, attorneys - anyone who works with Congress on a regular basis gets a breather after the 10th. The 10th is apparently a Wed, so if you need to finish out the work week, you cannot take a 2 week vacation (anywhere, even at Grandma's) and get to school on 8/24, which is really 8/23 for those elementary schools that don't announce teachers until the day before school starts.

It's not only about fancy international travel.

No, we're not. The DC metropolitan area is not a company town. Not even the Montgomery County part of the DC metropolitan area it is a company town. In 2012-2013, about 47,000 Montgomery County residents received wages from the federal government. The population of Montgomery County is just over one million. I do not think that the MCPS school schedule should be based on allowing people who work with Congress to take a two-week vacation in August.