Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I received an email from our school board member stating that the waiver to start before Labor Day could be granted should FCPS miss 5 days of school due to snow. Well, we are already at day 1 today and hitting that 5 day mark is more than likely.

My question is - does anyone know the waiver process? For instance, does anyone know if FCPS automatically will request the waiver once they hit 5 day mark or do they just consider it? How does it get approved - can parents weigh in?

I know several families that have spent thousands on vacations that last week in August /first week September based on school starting after Labor Day for the past 40 years. Seems like late notice to make it earlier now.

Thanks in advance for any insight....

Yes. You can weigh in. Email your SB member as well as others and tell them the bolder part above. I will too.

I have no dog in this fight. But I seriously doubt they care about your travel plans.

Karen Garza changed the school system from half day to full day Mondays. Do you have any idea how many businesses were affected by this? Any business that deals with children was affected. Dance classes, PTA afterschool classes, afterschool daycare classes. You name it. They actually had to go out and hire different people willing to work the different hours. If a change is being made, the least of my concerns is someone's beach house rental at the end of August. Get a grip.

Anonymous wrote:I received an email from our school board member stating that the waiver to start before Labor Day could be granted should FCPS miss 5 days of school due to snow. Well, we are already at day 1 today and hitting that 5 day mark is more than likely.

My question is - does anyone know the waiver process? For instance, does anyone know if FCPS automatically will request the waiver once they hit 5 day mark or do they just consider it? How does it get approved - can parents weigh in?

I know several families that have spent thousands on vacations that last week in August /first week September based on school starting after Labor Day for the past 40 years. Seems like late notice to make it earlier now.

Thanks in advance for any insight....

Yes. You can weigh in. Email your SB member as well as others and tell them the bolder part above. I will too.

I received an email from our school board member stating that the waiver to start before Labor Day could be granted should FCPS miss 5 days of school due to snow. Well, we are already at day 1 today and hitting that 5 day mark is more than likely.

My question is - does anyone know the waiver process? For instance, does anyone know if FCPS automatically will request the waiver once they hit 5 day mark or do they just consider it? How does it get approved - can parents weigh in?

I know several families that have spent thousands on vacations that last week in August /first week September based on school starting after Labor Day for the past 40 years. Seems like late notice to make it earlier now.

Thanks in advance for any insight....

Maybe the majority of people posting are "New" elementary parents(K,1,or 2) who are not used to the Start of school being after Labor Day in FCPS. It has been this way for sooooo very long. There have been attempts to change it throughout the years and they always get denied. Although some VA schools further south recently got their before labor day start approved. Is it political?? Who knows... Kings Dominion Law seems to stick in the VA school systems closest to DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I hope they start after Labor Day. I think starting school in August, even the 31st, is just wrong.

Disagree. I think going after Memorial Day is just wrong. Kids and teachers are done.

i don't get this logic. Kids and teachers are done the last 2-3 weeks no matter when it ends. It's still the SAME number of days in school.

NO. The SOLs dictate when the teachers are done and therefore when the students are done. When the sols end at the end of May/first of June, THAT's when all learning stops -- even for the kids who don't have sols (1st, 2nd). The school atmosphere is studious until the SOLs and then it's all party all the time. So, keep your late June release, but then move the SOLs to the last two weeks. Both sides are happy -- starting late and not turning into movies and parties for two-three weeks in June.

They'll never move the SOLs to the last two weeks because schools need at least a week after scheduled SOL testing to get in all the make ups and re-takes and to submit all the testing stuff to VDOE. Additionally, a lot of high schoolers have finals after SOLs. Grades are always due about a week before school is out (at best...I've worked in schools where final grades were submitted 2-3weeks before the end of the year).

Fact of the matter is, no matter the last day of school, it doesn't change that 2-3 week period after the SOLs when everything starts to wrap up and formal instruction has tapered off. Keep in mind also that schools set their specific SOL schedule within a rather large window dictated by the state. The window this year closes sometime in mid-June. Schools COULD schedule all SOLs for those last two weeks but, for the reasons I already mentioned, they don't.

Yup, this is true. We have SOLs for 7 days straight, and then a week of make ups after that. That brings us into mid-June right there. We then have about a week of regular class before finals start. Finals end the day before the end of school. So contrary to what people think, most teachers (at least in high school) are teaching until the very end.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I hope they start after Labor Day. I think starting school in August, even the 31st, is just wrong.

Disagree. I think going after Memorial Day is just wrong. Kids and teachers are done.

i don't get this logic. Kids and teachers are done the last 2-3 weeks no matter when it ends. It's still the SAME number of days in school.

NO. The SOLs dictate when the teachers are done and therefore when the students are done. When the sols end at the end of May/first of June, THAT's when all learning stops -- even for the kids who don't have sols (1st, 2nd). The school atmosphere is studious until the SOLs and then it's all party all the time. So, keep your late June release, but then move the SOLs to the last two weeks. Both sides are happy -- starting late and not turning into movies and parties for two-three weeks in June.

They'll never move the SOLs to the last two weeks because schools need at least a week after scheduled SOL testing to get in all the make ups and re-takes and to submit all the testing stuff to VDOE. Additionally, a lot of high schoolers have finals after SOLs. Grades are always due about a week before school is out (at best...I've worked in schools where final grades were submitted 2-3weeks before the end of the year).

Fact of the matter is, no matter the last day of school, it doesn't change that 2-3 week period after the SOLs when everything starts to wrap up and formal instruction has tapered off. Keep in mind also that schools set their specific SOL schedule within a rather large window dictated by the state. The window this year closes sometime in mid-June. Schools COULD schedule all SOLs for those last two weeks but, for the reasons I already mentioned, they don't.

Alexandria City applied for a waiver a couple years ago and was denied.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I hope they start after Labor Day. I think starting school in August, even the 31st, is just wrong.

Disagree. I think going after Memorial Day is just wrong. Kids and teachers are done.

i don't get this logic. Kids and teachers are done the last 2-3 weeks no matter when it ends. It's still the SAME number of days in school.

NO. The SOLs dictate when the teachers are done and therefore when the students are done. When the sols end at the end of May/first of June, THAT's when all learning stops -- even for the kids who don't have sols (1st, 2nd). The school atmosphere is studious until the SOLs and then it's all party all the time. So, keep your late June release, but then move the SOLs to the last two weeks. Both sides are happy -- starting late and not turning into movies and parties for two-three weeks in June.

Anonymous wrote:

I hope they start after Labor Day. I think starting school in August, even the 31st, is just wrong.

Disagree. I think going after Memorial Day is just wrong. Kids and teachers are done.

i don't get this logic. Kids and teachers are done the last 2-3 weeks no matter when it ends. It's still the SAME number of days in school.

I emailed Ryan McElveen & asked him this exact question while trying to plan my vacation for the last week in August. He said there was no reason to think FFX would start before Labor Day in '15 and to go ahead and book it.

Anonymous wrote:

Beach house in OBX drop in price. That would be a starting point.

So, that's the true reason you like August.

You say this like it's an invalid reason?

Our kids spend enough time in school. August is for play and family, not school.

Anonymous wrote:The YMCA in Arlington has already scheduled summer camps through the first week of September, so I took that as a pretty good sign that Arlington won't go back until after labor day. This year they had 10 weeks of camps; next year they have 11 weeks scheduled.

I'm annoyed - the first year we have to pay for summer camp is longer by a week!

So you think Arlington Public Schools tips off their calendar decisions to the YMCA, and then they make their schedule of camps? Really? School started on Sept 2. When there's an early Labor
Day, you "lose" a week of camp. In 2015, Labor Day is late, so there is an extra week.

The YMCA in Arlington has already scheduled summer camps through the first week of September, so I took that as a pretty good sign that Arlington won't go back until after labor day. This year they had 10 weeks of camps; next year they have 11 weeks scheduled.

I'm annoyed - the first year we have to pay for summer camp is longer by a week!

The pool membership is also paid for and August is a good pool month.