It's pretty unconscionable that they knowingly recognized a holiday on the WRONG day, in contravention of previously stated attempts at a policy using absenteeism of students and teachers as a bench mark, and then foisted the fallout calendar issues onto MCPS staff.

I'm sure our future Superintendent is getting very impressed.

Anonymous wrote:Did the BOE overestimate the capabilities of the superintendent and/or underestimate the ease of making 9:12 a professional day?

I don't think O'Neill or Kauffman underestimated the ease of making 9/12 a professional day. They both voted against it, citing "The state calendar says 9/11 is the holiday and WHEN will we make up the day?" There was extensive conversation on "when to make up the day?" Barclay, who introduced the motion, cited "It's not for me to figure that out. MCPS staff is going to have to figure that out." Barclay and the others who voted for the calendar change, seemed to underestimate the problems.

One of the members (either Smondrowski or Ortman-Fouse) asked about doing only 3 contingency days, but that was quickly shot down... as was having the last day of school on Monday, June 20 based on last year's debacle.

WTG BOE for creating resentment for the Eid schedule change when none previously existed!

^They did not factor in the $7 million price tag, or account for losing the instructional day.

Anonymous wrote:Did the BOE overestimate the capabilities of the superintendent and/or underestimate the ease of making 9:12 a professional day?

Sorry should be underestimate the difficulties.

Did the BOE overestimate the capabilities of the superintendent and/or underestimate the ease of making 9:12 a professional day?

Anonymous wrote:This new calendar will really impact families that have kids moving into middle school and high school.

I know this past August we had one entering each and they both had some type of mock day or orientation the week before the actual start of school. If the new calendar holds up these days will be held the week of 8/15 thereby eliminating another full week of vacation for some people.

Not all middle schools do this.

Anonymous wrote:

Apparently it is not wise to expect consistency in one's school calendar. Though, I swear in my 13 years of schooling, it was exactly the same except for the specific dates - always the same pattern.

You're right, it isn't. Things change, even though people don't like change.

I agree that the state should reconsider Easter. Even the Orthodox Christians are excluded there.

The problem is the fuzzy standard. When the Jewish holidays were given off, absenteeism for both teachers/staff and students was quite high. The county could not get sufficient replacements to make things run. And for those 2 days, absenteeism even today would continue to be high, such that it has an operational impact. It is not yet that high for Eid - they said it was about 5.5%, which is the same for the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana (which is an equally religious holiday as the other days off but never given off in the County) and a typical Friday. If that standard is sufficient, then they'll have to start giving off the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana, and possibly 1-2 days of Passover, too. The truth is, everyone (or at least all non-Christians) has religious days that they have to figure out how to work their prayer times around, and may fall behind on school work because of the family celebrations/religious obligations. When students celebrate Passover, many leave town to go visit family and miss a few days of school, or if they stay local and go to school, family obligations may run from 5pm-midnight in many families. It sucks, but it is the cost of living in a secular state. I agree that it seems unfair that in a "secular" society we still give disproportionate weight to Christian holidays (I think Good Friday and Easter Monday are examples that should likely be pulled), but even Christians who celebrate Ash Wednesday have to fit it around other things. It sounds like the move to try and do something about Eid this year is a disaster - especially if it isn't even going to be celebrated on that date. The school board should not be shifting dates around in this way, but should look seriously at whether the absenteeism warrants the shut down. If they can have a professional day, I think that argument is made - it isn't having an operational impact on staff. But I think it is a slippery slope - if a 5.5% absentee rate is sufficient, then we have a few more holidays for a range of other religions we need to start clearing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This new calendar will really impact families that have kids moving into middle school and high school.

I know this past August we had one entering each and they both had some type of mock day or orientation the week before the actual start of school. If the new calendar holds up these days will be held the week of 8/15 thereby eliminating another full week of vacation for some people.

I agree. Though maybe they will have that day on 8/22. That would be two days before like it typically is.

Apparently it is not wise to expect consistency in one's school calendar. Though, I swear in my 13 years of schooling, it was exactly the same except for the specific dates - always the same pattern.

All anyone can do is write to the BOE and express your consternation if you are bothered by the earlier start. We will see whether they are listening to their constituents.

Anonymous wrote:This new calendar will really impact families that have kids moving into middle school and high school.

I know this past August we had one entering each and they both had some type of mock day or orientation the week before the actual start of school. If the new calendar holds up these days will be held the week of 8/15 thereby eliminating another full week of vacation for some people.

I agree. Though maybe they will have that day on 8/22. That would be two days before like it typically is.

This new calendar will really impact families that have kids moving into middle school and high school.

I know this past August we had one entering each and they both had some type of mock day or orientation the week before the actual start of school. If the new calendar holds up these days will be held the week of 8/15 thereby eliminating another full week of vacation for some people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
With no numbers for Muslims, it's not meaningful. I guess you are trying to assert that the Muslim population has grown along with county population, but that's certainly not a given. The population may have fallen. And if it didn't grow 6% or more, then the percentage didn't increase. Point is, the BOE says they can't and don't close for religious holidays. Then Durso outright declared that they are closing for a religious holiday. And now the calendar is jacked to cater to a tiny segment of the population.

The only thing anybody is asserting right here is that your numbers are out of date. Which they are.

There are no reliable 2015 figures for # of Muslims in the county that I can find. If you can find, feel free to post.

Could somebody please clarify this issue for me? I assumed that there was some defined criteria with a threshold which would determine if a given population was large enough to justify closing schools. It sounds as though not only are we lacking decision criteria, we are lacking the data on which to apply it. Has MCPS cited their criteria for closing for this group? Are they looking at attendance data? Do we even know if this is the largest unrepresented group? We are a very diverse system. I know, for example, we have a large Asian population which may encompass multiple faiths. I don't know what religious holidays they might observe or how their numbers compare to those of the Muslim (or Christian or Jewish) faith.

Please understand this is a sincere post as I feel woefully uninformed on this subject.

Last year the BOE refused to provide criteria for a holiday when the declined to close for Eid. I don't know what changed their minds this year, but I think the option to make it a professional day may have shifted things.