Public Comments on Policy IDA, School Year Calendar September 8 to October 9, 2015 Entry ID General feedback on the policy First Name Last Name 1 The policy seems fair. We've lived in a couple of school districts in MD and other states, and this policy is more straightforward and organized than others we've experienced. Marilyn Sklar 2 While I understand MD law requires school be off the Friday before Easter and from then through the Monday after Easter, I have never believed spring break needs to connected to it. B/c Easter Nancy Edwards fluctuates from early March-Early April, it is not always at the mid-point of the semester. I would like to see spring break put at the mid-point of the semester consistently, some years this would coincide with Easter and some years not. when break is early march there is a long stretch of school without days off, this would help that. I also do not think each school should come up with calendar. we have many families with kids in all levels of school and right now coordination by cluster means for the most part, parents can attend events for all their children whether in 3rd, 8th or 10th grade if they are in the same cluster. thanks for taking the time to read my comments. 3 Further more, the current Chief Academic officer, Maria Navarro, has only worked in Montgomery County for our school system for 1 school year. Montgomery Co. has been working just fine the Jackie Ghunaim way the system is for Years. New People come in, make changes, mess stuff up, and then leave or are let go, and we the Parent, Student, and Teacher are left with the mess. Just because someone has a spark in their brain, and wants to make change to leave their mark, does not mean it is a good idea! 4 I actually think that we should be spending less time on items like the calendar and more time on other more important issues. Lisa Fox 5 Please minimize the number of interruptions to the school calendar. This is a public, non religious school district. Frequent ad hoc days off are distracting and disruptive to students (I am a frequent Heidi Hessler volunteer in the classroom ). Also, if days are listed in the calendar for making up instructional time missed due to weather, please use them instead of ducking responsibility. Students have been shortchanged two years in a row. Don't schedule them if you won't use them. 6 When determining Spring Break, please consider the surrounding County's scheduled calendars if possible, for staff who live outside of Montgomery County have had different breaks every 2-3 Jennifer Peter years. I have had to use leave, not take my child on a vacation unless I pull him out of school. It would be great to have surrounding counties have the same winter and spring breaks if possible. Also, as a teacher with out of town family, we often have to travel at Thanksgiving. My son is off the Wednesday before (in Howard County). I have had to use personal leave to take off to get to California or Texas by Thanksgiving day. It would be great to find the dates where many staff have to use leave, and call that a holiday, and even go an extra day or two into the summer as Howard County does. Thanks! 7 It would be great if the Winter break could be two weeks long instead of one week long, just as it has been adopted in many countries throughout the World. This not only gives students more time Jose Izquierdo to have a break from school (and an unnecessarily long Summer break), but it would also give children from many international families enough time to visit their home country (or enough time for US families for longer travel), something that is currently not an option unless students miss classes, with all the complications that this entails. 8 What exactly you want us to comment on? What I want to know is if Christmas is still banned from the calendar. Maryland law clearly requires schools to be closed for Christmas, Easter and T P Thanksgiving. Of these you have no issue mentioning Thanksgiving but not Christmas or Easter. I would like you to reinstate back Christmas. Stop wasting tax payers money and your time on liberal political agenda. It will not surprise me if your next project is a gender neutral bathroom to make everyone equal, like boys and girls are the same never mind the biological differences Liberals are destroying America by making it like Europe. 9 I did not notice a huge difference from previous policies. One thing that I thought was positive is that individual religious observances will be handled as such and that the calendar will not impose gabe ryan observances for everybody. 10 1. I work at Montgomery College, and have served on the Calendar Committee. MC calendars are developed and approved (with the possibility of a change) more than a year in advance. I have Lorraine Kelman noticed that on some MCPS holidays our students who are also parents of school-aged children sometimes bring their children to MC or skip class. While I tried to align the MC and MCPS calendars, it is impossible. I doubt you can help, but I would like to bring to your attention that large schools such as MCPS and MC might benefit from cooperating in matters such as the academic calendar. 2. While this is not a calendar issue, the American Acad. of Pediatrics recommends that MS and HS start no earlier than 8:30 am. The 20 minute change in bell times adopted Sept 2015 does not meet this recommendation. 11 I am very much in favor of a school calendar that bases days off on secular purposes only, in support of the separation of church and state. If student/teacher/administrator absenteeism due to any Dina Gold reason (religious observance, participation in a political rally, etc.) is significant enough that the progression of education will be hindered, that is a basis for closing school or otherwise modifying the school schedule. 1 Public Comments on Policy IDA, School Year Calendar September 8 to October 9, 2015 12 The notice is opaque and uninformative. The use of an undefined acronym (IDA) renders the notice nugatory. The item is opposed. Ava Gardener 13 Response was for Policy IKA 14 Generally favor. To avoid the current perception that only Christian and Jewish holidays are observed via days off / early release, it would be useful to gather and disseminate objective data Karen Shimp supporting the secular reasons for days off that coincide with those religions' holidays (except those holidays mandated by state law) vs data supporting no secular reason for days off that coincide with a non-Christian/Jewish holiday. The policy should be revised to change the method and timing for changing the schedule to make up excess inclement weather closings. Adding non- instructional time at the end of the school year does nothing to further the purpose of the 180-day minimum requirement. 15 The MCPS community should allow Muslims to have their Eid ul-Adha holiday and it should be written on the school calendar. There are many Muslims in the county and I feel that it's is fair that Amna Shamim they get their holiday off. It's only fair. We allow Christians to have their holiday, we allow Jews to have their holiday, why is it so hard for you to give Muslims their holiday? 16 The current school calendar is not effective during the second and fourth quarters, particularly for high school students. I support a change. Kimberly Agnew-Heard 17 Spring break should be approximately the same time each year. It should not follow Easter which is on Sunday, not a school day and can fall anytime between March late and late April. Additionally Eva Jacobson there are too many 1/2 and closed days not around holidays. Look at some of the local private school calendars. 18 I agree there needs to be a clear policy on how the school calendar is created. I still have an issue with the removal of names of the religious holidays from the school calendar. I would like ONE Nova Cobble calendar to include the days of instruction and what religious holidays are observed on various days. I would ask that we return to including the names of religious holidays not to promote one over another, but rather to teach people (including teachers) about the days and times of days sacred to various religions. By removing these on this current calendar, I have to monitor two calendars to see if I should refrain from giving homework on certain days because of a holiday that some of my students might observe. Additionally, I have an issue from a teacher perspective, related to the winter break. I find it troubling that we have classes (during certain years) on December 23rd. I celebrate Christmas on December 24th and have absolutely NO TIME to travel to my family because of this schedule . What is most troubling to me is that I am told time and time again that I cannot take leave to extend holidays. If this is the case and the stipulation in the policy relates to monitoring high absenteeism on certain days, how will you ever know that responsible teachers show up because they are "required" to do so, but would given the opportunity secure a sub in order to travel on that day? Could we consider a half day on the 23rd, just as we have a half day prior to Thanksgiving.