FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — The School Board is discussing the possibility of lengthening the current shortened Monday schedule for elementary schools to a full instructional day and is asking parents to provide feedback before the School Board is scheduled to vote on the issue at its June 26 meeting. Parents and teachers are invited to complete a survey (available online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/fulldayMondayparents) on this proposed change by Monday, June 23 at 5 p.m. More details are available at www.fcps.edu/news/fulldaymonday.shtml .
At its May 28 and June 16 work sessions, the Board heard the results of a working group composed of 23 members, including principals and central office staff, whose charge was to review the current practices for scheduling students at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and then, make recommendations to Superintendent Karen Garza that will improve effectiveness and efficiency. Several recommendations to lengthen Mondays were shared with the School Board, including providing 20 minutes of recess each day within the regular elementary schedule and providing additional resources and policy flexibility at the elementary level to increase teacher-directed planning time. In addition, the School Board heard from the working group reasons to switch from the 180-day calendar to the 990-hour option for meeting state accreditation requirements. This change would eliminate the need to add snow makeup days to the end of the school year.