RobertOder
Since we're swapping bona fides I have 34 years of experience in communications (US Army and Northrop Grumman) and decades of experience with HughesNet. If you don't think kids being home from school and being indoors doesn't have a major impact nor a load on the system, just look at the timeframe you've outlined - Winter break.
Also, have you ever considered that the sysops/tech people not jumping in as fast as you'd like is because email issues have been placed on the bottom of the urgency barrel? They're not abandoning you, just the email, because there are likely more pressing problems they need to deal with (J3 rollout, capacity, security, and increased load due to cable cutters to name a few) and (as I've said) your email issue likely can't be solved with the limited amount of resources.
If email is the reason why you're sticking with this service then I think your priorities are misplaced, since there are several better options for email (as I've said) that cost you nothing. And, oh by the way, email may have been included but you're paying through the nose for an internet service that has a tremendous amount of overhead and sunk equipment costs, not subcontracted email services that may likely be going away.
I'm sorry that your expectations don't match the reality of the situation, but that's life.