My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly . . .

[Anonymous]

My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

The state allows for 3 asynchronous inclement weather days. Other counties have been able to plan for those days, and some have even used both asynchronous and synchronous virtual days this year, without any major issues. It's not that complicated of a solution to use some virtual days, especially if 3 can be asynchronous.

[Anonymous]

The computers are not coming off the carts. I’m an elementary media specialist. The computers being sent home when parents request them are from the central IT office, not the schools’ carts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

The state allows for 3 asynchronous inclement weather days. Other counties have been able to plan for those days, and some have even used both asynchronous and synchronous virtual days this year, without any major issues. It's not that complicated of a solution to use some virtual days, especially if 3 can be asynchronous.

No asynchronous days, please. It’s a disaster for elementary students who want to go out to play snow all day given the snow is so rare here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

The state allows for 3 asynchronous inclement weather days. Other counties have been able to plan for those days, and some have even used both asynchronous and synchronous virtual days this year, without any major issues. It's not that complicated of a solution to use some virtual days, especially if 3 can be asynchronous.

They l've used them, but they've ranged from disasters (attempts at virtual instruction) to worthless (asynchronous).

We've got make-up days for a reason. We should use those. Virtual should only be considered if there's another Snowmageddon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

The state allows for 3 asynchronous inclement weather days. Other counties have been able to plan for those days, and some have even used both asynchronous and synchronous virtual days this year, without any major issues. It's not that complicated of a solution to use some virtual days, especially if 3 can be asynchronous.

No asynchronous days, please. It’s a disaster for elementary students who want to go out to play snow all day given the snow is so rare here.

Virtual doesn't really affect that. No teachers are going to expect students to do anything, whether it is synchronous or asynchronous. It's just a day off that teachers don't need to make up.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of people who work in Central Office in operations, IT, etc. whose job it is to figure out how to pull off a pivot to virtual (either synchronous or asynchronous) if the school system is in a weather situation where it needs to be considered. Alternatively, these people can do the hard work and research to determine that there are barriers that cannot be overcome and that code purple cannot and will not ever be on the table. But pretending winter doesn’t exist and just covering your eyes and kicking the can is not doing their jobs. It is amazing to me how many MCPS employees, particularly at the highest levels, just shrug and don’t do their jobs and find solutions to problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

code purple was only intended for longer term or multiple consecutive days of cancellation. Stop blaming MCPS for failing to do something that it never was going to do anyway

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

The state allows for 3 asynchronous inclement weather days. Other counties have been able to plan for those days, and some have even used both asynchronous and synchronous virtual days this year, without any major issues. It's not that complicated of a solution to use some virtual days, especially if 3 can be asynchronous.

They l've used them, but they've ranged from disasters (attempts at virtual instruction) to worthless (asynchronous).

We've got make-up days for a reason. We should use those. Virtual should only be considered if there's another Snowmageddon.

Asynchronous days work for every other county. They’ll work here too, despite your incessant complaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

code purple was only intended for longer term or multiple consecutive days of cancellation. Stop blaming MCPS for failing to do something that it never was going to do anyway

Agreed. Code purpose was intended for multiple-day events. Unfortunately, even a single-day event becomes multiple days of work for our system, which couldn't clear the lots like all the other major districts did to open Wednesday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

The state allows for 3 asynchronous inclement weather days. Other counties have been able to plan for those days, and some have even used both asynchronous and synchronous virtual days this year, without any major issues. It's not that complicated of a solution to use some virtual days, especially if 3 can be asynchronous.

No asynchronous days, please. It’s a disaster for elementary students who want to go out to play snow all day given the snow is so rare here.

ES mom here. I would much rather just have packets to do when we have time than to have kids have to get on zoom. Asynchronous seems much better for ES -- zoom more appropriate for MS and HS students.

[Anonymous]

Why would schools need to send home computers? Both our ES and MS have told us time and time again that if we need a Chromebook, we should fill out a form to request it. At this point, either people have computers at home or should have received one through that process (including charger).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of people who work in Central Office in operations, IT, etc. whose job it is to figure out how to pull off a pivot to virtual (either synchronous or asynchronous) if the school system is in a weather situation where it needs to be considered. Alternatively, these people can do the hard work and research to determine that there are barriers that cannot be overcome and that code purple cannot and will not ever be on the table. But pretending winter doesn’t exist and just covering your eyes and kicking the can is not doing their jobs. It is amazing to me how many MCPS employees, particularly at the highest levels, just shrug and don’t do their jobs and find solutions to problems.

There's already a solution. There are already days **in the 2023-3024 calendar** intended to be used as make-up days. There's no great challenge to solve. We just need to pick the day. We should probably decide what will be the second day, given we'll almost certainly have another snow day and we don't want to go through this again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

code purple was only intended for longer term or multiple consecutive days of cancellation. Stop blaming MCPS for failing to do something that it never was going to do anyway

Right. I don't know where people got this crazy idea that MCPS was considering "virtual" for Friday... /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two cents why Code Purple was never going to fly, with just a day’s notice to staff and students:

One, there has been no significant investment in training or retraining how to use zoom or canvas to anyone, really, whether it's teachers or students in the district, even though it should have been built-in the first month of school and reiterated before the start of the winter season;

Two, the majority of elementary schools went to a cart system, which makes it incredibly time-consuming to remove not just the chromebooks but dismantle the cart just to get to their chargers, of which some might be broken or defective; (Never mind the idiocy of taking apart the carts, only to put them together the following Monday?) (And whom would pull this off, realistically? ITSSs are shared and stretched thin among three to four schools, already.);

Three, to build on the above, two months ago, MCPS indicated that they were effectively out of chargers, and that the financial responsibility would now fall onto the individual schools. (A budget freeze announced two Fridays ago was just an additional slap to the face.);

Four, when students came back from the pandemic, most of the laptop bags were thrown out and recycled, as they were downright disgusting and in no shape for further use. They were not replaced. So the chromebooks would have to go home into their backpacks;

Five, someone on DCUM commented that the schools could simply send the chromebooks home, without their charging cables, as their stated battery life was eight hours. Please note that that was when they were brand-new, not four years old, and this also assumes that they were being plugged in, constantly. (Ha.);

Six, the Dell teacher laptops that would be expected to pull off zoom are straight-up POSs. So many have failed for various reasons just over the last few months that a lot of people are frustrated. I can't imagine using them;

Seven, the total confusion and lack of communication or even miscommunication over what a Code Purple was, how it would be implemented, and more was simply monumentally screwed up. The expectations and conditions to trigger such a code should have been codified and publicized to the entire community way ahead of time;

This is just a few of the things that naturally occurred to me. (If there’s others, you’re welcome to chime in!) Bottom line: nothing was learned from the pandemic.

There were, however, some easy actions that could have been taken to offset some of this:

one, such as regular use or formal integration of zoom / canvas throughout the school year;
two, transitioning from closed carts to something a bit more flexible, like open-air charging stations;
three, updating the Acer 740s to Google Flex to keep them modern and useful, in case the school system decided to send home relatively-disposable laptops
four, set into motion exactly how and when a Code Purple comes into play; and so much more.

It’s not rocket science.

The state allows for 3 asynchronous inclement weather days. Other counties have been able to plan for those days, and some have even used both asynchronous and synchronous virtual days this year, without any major issues. It's not that complicated of a solution to use some virtual days, especially if 3 can be asynchronous.

No asynchronous days, please. It’s a disaster for elementary students who want to go out to play snow all day given the snow is so rare here.

ES mom here. I would much rather just have packets to do when we have time than to have kids have to get on zoom. Asynchronous seems much better for ES -- zoom more appropriate for MS and HS students.

Unless they're going to send home paraeducators and speech/OT, then they shouldn't be doing packets either. Just schedule the make-up day.