Anonymous wrote:We are following farming schedule when less than 2% population is involved in farming.

It's even less than that for MCPS population.

We are following farming schedule when less than 2% population is involved in farming.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 week winter break is dumb. Kids are in school the entire week leading up to Christmas then off for an entire week the first week of January.
A full week off for Thanksgiving is dumb too. The Wednesday should be a half day. Parents can take their kids out if needed. This is about the sub shortage.

It’s actually about giving school staff longer breaks. My org has done this a full week at Thanksgiving for 20 years. This year we have 2 weeks at Christmas and staff is elated.

Teachers want their summers NOT two weeks during winter break when it’s too expensive for us to do anything anyway!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 week winter break is dumb. Kids are in school the entire week leading up to Christmas then off for an entire week the first week of January.
A full week off for Thanksgiving is dumb too. The Wednesday should be a half day. Parents can take their kids out if needed. This is about the sub shortage.

It’s actually about giving school staff longer breaks. My org has done this a full week at Thanksgiving for 20 years. This year we have 2 weeks at Christmas and staff is elated.

Yeah, I totally understand that everyone has different needs and preferences but it’s a little dismissive to say parents can just take their kids out if they want to. Teachers generally can’t get additional time off to accommodate travel needs (if applicable). And there are obviously costs to planning to take your kids out for unexcused absences.

The weeklong Thanksgiving break wasn’t my personal favorite calendar but I get it. If you need to fly, it’s very difficult and expensive to do so without a longer week.

Anonymous wrote:The 2 week winter break is dumb. Kids are in school the entire week leading up to Christmas then off for an entire week the first week of January.
A full week off for Thanksgiving is dumb too. The Wednesday should be a half day. Parents can take their kids out if needed. This is about the sub shortage.

It’s actually about giving school staff longer breaks. My org has done this a full week at Thanksgiving for 20 years. This year we have 2 weeks at Christmas and staff is elated.

I imagine Smondrowski wants to start earlier so that kids have more time to learn content before exams in April/May. That makes sense to me.

If McKnight is so data driven then show us the data that proves kids who attend ELO do better during the regular school year.

If they want to start school any earlier they should first install AC in every school gym and ensure every classroom has working AC. Our contract states that when the room is 80 degrees or higher we can request an alternate teaching space. MCPS would have a huge mess trying to start so early.

Her talk about giving teachers time to be able to differentiate the needs in their classes is complete BS. We need time to grade, plan, and communicate with families to actually differentiate. We need adequate staffing, classroom space and resources to actually differentiate. Even better, what about a reduced workload so teachers can do this during the school day? If parents want less days off, advocate for more teacher planning time during the school day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do they want to make these changes? What is the reasoning and the driving force behind it and why aren’t we sticking to this year‘s calendar, last year‘s calendar etc.?

They want more professional days and more/longer breaks.

Have they articulated that this is for the mental health of Teachers somewhere? It's not great for working parents, and if they don't frontload actual instructional days before APs, it is a wash for students.

They had an extended discussion here, starting around the 1:36 mark.

https://youtu.be/QhoKQ3xYMCg

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do they want to make these changes? What is the reasoning and the driving force behind it and why aren’t we sticking to this year‘s calendar, last year‘s calendar etc.?

They want more professional days and more/longer breaks.

Have they articulated that this is for the mental health of Teachers somewhere? It's not great for working parents, and if they don't frontload actual instructional days before APs, it is a wash for students.

Anonymous wrote:Why do they want to make these changes? What is the reasoning and the driving force behind it and why aren’t we sticking to this year‘s calendar, last year‘s calendar etc.?

They want more professional days and more/longer breaks.

Why do they want to make these changes? What is the reasoning and the driving force behind it and why aren’t we sticking to this year‘s calendar, last year‘s calendar etc.?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did they sneak in a calendar, Option A, starting SO early in August? To make 8/21 or 8/23 seem reasonable?

It seemed like Smondrowski really wanted an early start.

Of course the calendar committee panders to the opinion of one Board member over thousands of parents.

But "thousands of parents" don't outweigh tens or scores of thousands.

You really think that there are 10s or Scores of thousands of parents who want school to start on August 17?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did they sneak in a calendar, Option A, starting SO early in August? To make 8/21 or 8/23 seem reasonable?

It seemed like Smondrowski really wanted an early start.

Yeah, cut already burned out teachers’ summer shorter this year when we can barely retain them under normal circumstances. Brilliant idea! Smondrowski has always been a moron though.

Agree, if they want to make a drastic 2-week shift earlier, they should announce it for the year after next.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did they sneak in a calendar, Option A, starting SO early in August? To make 8/21 or 8/23 seem reasonable?

It seemed like Smondrowski really wanted an early start.

Yeah, cut already burned out teachers’ summer shorter this year when we can barely retain them under normal circumstances. Brilliant idea! Smondrowski has always been a moron though.

Option C is the best one