Allegedly there are several options for the fall none of which include being back full time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m very much for opening schools and agree that our long term goal needs to be herd immunity in some sort of controlled fashion, as brutal as some may view that. We know we can do that (perhaps without the controlled part) versus a vaccine. I just don’t see the system taking the political risk of fully opening with reasonable safety measures, nor do I see there being any more time to make that decision. The system has 160,000 students. Any decision other than opening as normal is going to take every day left available to implement. Nine days ago I would have agreed with you about Phase 3. In fact, I would have bet on it. I’m not as sanguine about that anymore because the rest of the country has become a cautionary tale for Elrich.

What about the political risk of saying, "Sorry kids, sorry parents, sorry employers of parents, we're just going to continue to not have school because that's easier than figuring out how to have school."?

It's not a question of ease, it's a question of safety. Safety wins every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m very much for opening schools and agree that our long term goal needs to be herd immunity in some sort of controlled fashion, as brutal as some may view that. We know we can do that (perhaps without the controlled part) versus a vaccine. I just don’t see the system taking the political risk of fully opening with reasonable safety measures, nor do I see there being any more time to make that decision. The system has 160,000 students. Any decision other than opening as normal is going to take every day left available to implement. Nine days ago I would have agreed with you about Phase 3. In fact, I would have bet on it. I’m not as sanguine about that anymore because the rest of the country has become a cautionary tale for Elrich.

What about the political risk of saying, "Sorry kids, sorry parents, sorry employers of parents, we're just going to continue to not have school because that's easier than figuring out how to have school."?

It's not a question of ease, it's a question of safety. Safety wins every time.

Safety of what compared to what?

As the American Academy of Pediatrics says, closed schools aren't safe:

Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation. This, in turn, places children and adolescents at considerable risk of morbidity and, in some cases, mortality. Beyond the educational impact and social impact of school closures, there has been substantial impact on food security and physical activity for children and families.

They also say that COVID-19 policies are intended to mitigate, not eliminate, risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m very much for opening schools and agree that our long term goal needs to be herd immunity in some sort of controlled fashion, as brutal as some may view that. We know we can do that (perhaps without the controlled part) versus a vaccine. I just don’t see the system taking the political risk of fully opening with reasonable safety measures, nor do I see there being any more time to make that decision. The system has 160,000 students. Any decision other than opening as normal is going to take every day left available to implement. Nine days ago I would have agreed with you about Phase 3. In fact, I would have bet on it. I’m not as sanguine about that anymore because the rest of the country has become a cautionary tale for Elrich.

What about the political risk of saying, "Sorry kids, sorry parents, sorry employers of parents, we're just going to continue to not have school because that's easier than figuring out how to have school."?

It's not a question of ease, it's a question of safety. Safety wins every time.

DP, but what about the safety of kids in unsafe homes? I don’t even mean abusive ones necessarily, but ones in which parents have to go to worksites and can’t find childcare, so kids are left alone. I know DCUM likes to bury its collective head in the sand about this issue, but it’s very real. How do you rank the safety of those children with that of adults who work in schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP again. To be clear, a lot of what the AAP recommends makes sense, and aligns with what I laid out in the long post above. What I object to is their tone of, well try this, but don't worry about it if you can't live up to this regimen.

"If it isn't feasible to put these mitigation tactics in place, just open schools and so be it." As a teacher, that is not good enough for me.

Great. Find a new job. Nothing will ever be "safe" enough for teachers. You all have made that quite clear. You seem to be the one group incapable of accepting any risk at all, yet still think you should be paid your full salary.

All this strident back and forth is meaningless. Schools won't have in-person learning in Sept. because the virus isn't under control. People should be making other arrangements.

Firehouses won't have in-person firefighting because the virus isn't under control.

Grocery stores won't have in-person grocery sales because the virus isn't under control.

Meatpacking plants won't have in-person meatpacking because the virus isn't under control.

Tomato farms won't have in-person tomato-picking because the virus isn't under control.

Construction sites won't have in-person construction because the virus isn't under control.

The Navy won't have in-person Navying because the virus isn't under control.

Etc.

Right?

[Anonymous]

They are saying that closing schools is bad for kids. I get that. But that’s not enough. What are they proposing we do about it?

[Anonymous]

PP here... I was referring to the American Academy of Pediatrics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are saying that closing schools is bad for kids. I get that. But that’s not enough. What are they proposing we do about it?

You can read the recommendations here:

https://services.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/covid-19-planning-considerations-return-to-in-person-education-in-schools/

[Anonymous]

In other words, what do they say we should do? I haven’t heard of any responsible plan in response from the AAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP again. To be clear, a lot of what the AAP recommends makes sense, and aligns with what I laid out in the long post above. What I object to is their tone of, well try this, but don't worry about it if you can't live up to this regimen.

"If it isn't feasible to put these mitigation tactics in place, just open schools and so be it." As a teacher, that is not good enough for me.

Great. Find a new job. Nothing will ever be "safe" enough for teachers. You all have made that quite clear. You seem to be the one group incapable of accepting any risk at all, yet still think you should be paid your full salary.

All this strident back and forth is meaningless. Schools won't have in-person learning in Sept. because the virus isn't under control. People should be making other arrangements.

Firehouses won't have in-person firefighting because the virus isn't under control.

Grocery stores won't have in-person grocery sales because the virus isn't under control.

Meatpacking plants won't have in-person meatpacking because the virus isn't under control.

Tomato farms won't have in-person tomato-picking because the virus isn't under control.

Construction sites won't have in-person construction because the virus isn't under control.

The Navy won't have in-person Navying because the virus isn't under control.

Etc.

Right?

Compare schools to all of the other places that ARE doing virtual only. Nearly all Corporate desk jobs. I notarized documents over the Internet! The SSA is handling appointments over the phone.

[Anonymous]

The recommendations are weak and impossible to execute. There are lots of “ whenever and wherever possibles” . And there’s not very much in there that takes into account the adults that come into contact with these children.
Perhaps we should ask those doctors to volunteer in our schools to make sure safety measures are being executed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In other words, what do they say we should do? I haven’t heard of any responsible plan in response from the AAP

They don’t have one. And I don’t blame them. Running a school district with 160k plus diverse learners is not their area of expertise. I would not want our BOE to tell hospitals how to treat pediatric cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP again. To be clear, a lot of what the AAP recommends makes sense, and aligns with what I laid out in the long post above. What I object to is their tone of, well try this, but don't worry about it if you can't live up to this regimen.

"If it isn't feasible to put these mitigation tactics in place, just open schools and so be it." As a teacher, that is not good enough for me.

Great. Find a new job. Nothing will ever be "safe" enough for teachers. You all have made that quite clear. You seem to be the one group incapable of accepting any risk at all, yet still think you should be paid your full salary.

All this strident back and forth is meaningless. Schools won't have in-person learning in Sept. because the virus isn't under control. People should be making other arrangements.

See but it is under control in Montgomery county and has been for over a month now. Have you even looked at the numbers?

[Anonymous]

My guess is that we’d hear crickets....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In other words, what do they say we should do? I haven’t heard of any responsible plan in response from the AAP

They don’t have one. And I don’t blame them. Running a school district with 160k plus diverse learners is not their area of expertise. I would not want our BOE to tell hospitals how to treat pediatric cancer.

Here are their recommendations: https://services.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/clinical-guidance/covid-19-planning-considerations-return-to-in-person-education-in-schools/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The recommendations are weak and impossible to execute. There are lots of “ whenever and wherever possibles” . And there’s not very much in there that takes into account the adults that come into contact with these children.
Perhaps we should ask those doctors to volunteer in our schools to make sure safety measures are being executed?

They're not impossible to execute.

And the "whenever/wherever possible"s are because AAP does not want schools to close if they can't implement a given recommendation.

And there's plenty that's specifically about adults.