Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a time all Maryland Public schools started AFTER Labor Day. Why do they need so many professional days after the start of the school year? Couldn't all the training take place before the kids start school to eliminate the need to keep inching the start date further into August? Seriously, why do they need a professional day on September 12th?

When?

Of course, there was also a time when all Maryland public schools were segregated. So I don't think that "people used to do it this way", by itself, is much of an argument for doing it that way now.

A long. LONG time ago. Like 2000. The MCPS web page lists calendars only going back to 2006-2007 school year, which began prior to Labor Day. I was new to MoCo in 2000 and think that was about when they changed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a time all Maryland Public schools started AFTER Labor Day. Why do they need so many professional days after the start of the school year? Couldn't all the training take place before the kids start school to eliminate the need to keep inching the start date further into August? Seriously, why do they need a professional day on September 12th?

When?

Of course, there was also a time when all Maryland public schools were segregated. So I don't think that "people used to do it this way", by itself, is much of an argument for doing it that way now.

Anonymous wrote:10:33 You make the issue sound frivolous, but the family time in late August is important to many families. It is the traditional international time for family vacations, and as such, it is much more acceptable to many employers to have time off of work at that time of year.

Anonymous wrote:And I wonder what MCPS will do if the State mandates aan after Labor Day start

Anonymous wrote:There was a time all Maryland Public schools started AFTER Labor Day. Why do they need so many professional days after the start of the school year? Couldn't all the training take place before the kids start school to eliminate the need to keep inching the start date further into August? Seriously, why do they need a professional day on September 12th?

Anonymous wrote:13:44, sounds like a good idea to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in MCPS. I truly don't understand this. For all the years I've attended and worked in MCPS, I have heard that MCPS only closes for religious holidays if they present an operational issue. In this situation, they are clearly closing due to religious reasons, not operational reasons.

Now the Board is changing its tune and saying that they will close school for students due to a religious holiday, but still make it a working day for staff. I don't celebrate the holiday in question, so I have no problem going to work on that day. But now we're potentially changing the start date to acknowledge a religious holiday?

The holiday in question does not fall on the same day during each calendar year. So how is the Board going to handle this in the following years?

There was a survey sent out by MCEA asking teachers to rank their choices for the 2016-2017 calendar year. The overwhelming reaction from teachers in MCPS was that it won't matter what teachers think. The Board didn't seem to care about what teachers thought about bell times or final exams, so why waste our time filling out yet another survey? But for those interested, here were the options from which to choose...

Option A - add an additional professional day on 9/12 at a cost of $7 million, and bump the last instructional day to Friday 6/16, and the last professional day to Monday 6/19
Option B - add an additional professional day on 9/12 at a cost of $7 million, and add back in an instructional day on Monday 4/10
Option C - swap a professional day to 9/12 by removing one of the end-of-marking period grading days
Option D - swap a professional day to 9/12 by decreasing the number of pre-service days, with the first instruction day being moved up to Friday 8/26
Option E - swap a professional day to 9/12 by decreasing the number of pre-service days, but avoid starting school on a Friday by moving up pre-service to Thurs 8/18, the first instruction day Wed. 8/24, and the final professional day to Tues. 6/13

In my opinion, they all suck. We need 5 professional days at the beginning of the year (at least in elementary to set up rooms), and we need the professional days at the end of the marking periods for grading and reporting. If the Board wants to add a professional day, that's fine by me. But do not remove existing professional days for religious reasons.

Please contact the Board this weekend if you disagree with their decision. They don't listen to teachers, but they will (?) listen to parents.

Thank you, MCPS teacher, for sharing this helpful information. Sounds like "None of the above" was a needed option!

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in MCPS. I truly don't understand this. For all the years I've attended and worked in MCPS, I have heard that MCPS only closes for religious holidays if they present an operational issue. In this situation, they are clearly closing due to religious reasons, not operational reasons.

Now the Board is changing its tune and saying that they will close school for students due to a religious holiday, but still make it a working day for staff. I don't celebrate the holiday in question, so I have no problem going to work on that day. But now we're potentially changing the start date to acknowledge a religious holiday?

The holiday in question does not fall on the same day during each calendar year. So how is the Board going to handle this in the following years?

There was a survey sent out by MCEA asking teachers to rank their choices for the 2016-2017 calendar year. The overwhelming reaction from teachers in MCPS was that it won't matter what teachers think. The Board didn't seem to care about what teachers thought about bell times or final exams, so why waste our time filling out yet another survey? But for those interested, here were the options from which to choose...

Option A - add an additional professional day on 9/12 at a cost of $7 million, and bump the last instructional day to Friday 6/16, and the last professional day to Monday 6/19
Option B - add an additional professional day on 9/12 at a cost of $7 million, and add back in an instructional day on Monday 4/10
Option C - swap a professional day to 9/12 by removing one of the end-of-marking period grading days
Option D - swap a professional day to 9/12 by decreasing the number of pre-service days, with the first instruction day being moved up to Friday 8/26
Option E - swap a professional day to 9/12 by decreasing the number of pre-service days, but avoid starting school on a Friday by moving up pre-service to Thurs 8/18, the first instruction day Wed. 8/24, and the final professional day to Tues. 6/13

In my opinion, they all suck. We need 5 professional days at the beginning of the year (at least in elementary to set up rooms), and we need the professional days at the end of the marking periods for grading and reporting. If the Board wants to add a professional day, that's fine by me. But do not remove existing professional days for religious reasons.

Please contact the Board this weekend if you disagree with their decision. They don't listen to teachers, but they will (?) listen to parents.

Anonymous wrote:There was a time all Maryland Public schools started AFTER Labor Day. Why do they need so many professional days after the start of the school year? Couldn't all the training take place before the kids start school to eliminate the need to keep inching the start date further into August? Seriously, why do they need a professional day on September 12th?