Wed no school or 2hr delay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think no school all week.

Agreed. The temps won't support school commutes. Ice, cold, risk.

[Anonymous]

I hate to get into a whole virtual learning debate, but using the example of the pandemic where virtual learning was used exclusively for a year is entirely different from considering using virtual learning for a day or a few days to bridge a gap. It’s a moot point because it’s not allowed by the MD dept of Ed. right now. But there is an argument to be made for having secondary students do virtual instruction (could be synchronous, webinar or asynch) and for younger students to have packets and videos sent home.

[Anonymous]

Anyone near an MCPS school who can report on how things are looking at the moment?

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, the timing of this storm would have made things really difficult at the secondary level. How would you plan for at home instruction/work for kids who have not even started your class yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone near an MCPS school who can report on how things are looking at the moment?

The conditions of the school properties are just a small part of the equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone near an MCPS school who can report on how things are looking at the moment?

The conditions of the school properties are just a small part of the equation.

Sure, but it's a part of the equation I'd appreciate hearing about!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate to get into a whole virtual learning debate, but using the example of the pandemic where virtual learning was used exclusively for a year is entirely different from considering using virtual learning for a day or a few days to bridge a gap. It’s a moot point because it’s not allowed by the MD dept of Ed. right now. But there is an argument to be made for having secondary students do virtual instruction (could be synchronous, webinar or asynch) and for younger students to have packets and videos sent home.

I entirely agree, but apparently public schools are reticent because they got so much blowback during the pandemic.

Timely instruction is critical for high schoolers with AP exams in May. The College Board which administers APs never postpones exams. The full curriculum is tested, regardless of what happened in individual schools across the country. I have a 10th grader doing three challenging APs this year, that would be tough to self-study, and we don't need the stress of worrying about whether teachers will be able to fully teach everything in time.

[Anonymous]

Roads will probably all be cleared today.

[Anonymous]

I don't see what a delay would do at all this week. It's going to be well below freezing all week. Either they open, or they close -- and seeing how icy it is, with difficulty clearing, I expect to be closed all week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Closed Wednesday and Thursday. The sleet was almost worse than if we had the large amount of snow.

It was definitely worse than a lot of snow. Much harder to shovel and now much more slippery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see what a delay would do at all this week. It's going to be well below freezing all week. Either they open, or they close -- and seeing how icy it is, with difficulty clearing, I expect to be closed all week.

I mean, it would be a little bit of help as far as the temps rising from wind chills below zero to wind chills in the single digits above zero when kids are getting on buses... but besides that, I dunno.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Roads will probably all be cleared today.

There is no way, PP. Most of the county isn't plowed, they need two days (so Wednesday as well) if they're very diligent. I could see school on Thursday.

[Anonymous]

I hope they'll put out some kind of update today rather than waiting until tomorrow afternoon, even if it's not a final decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate to get into a whole virtual learning debate, but using the example of the pandemic where virtual learning was used exclusively for a year is entirely different from considering using virtual learning for a day or a few days to bridge a gap. It’s a moot point because it’s not allowed by the MD dept of Ed. right now. But there is an argument to be made for having secondary students do virtual instruction (could be synchronous, webinar or asynch) and for younger students to have packets and videos sent home.

Virtual would be worthless for elementary kids. Packets wouldn't work because the worksheets themselves don't have the lessons included on them. Parents would have no clue what to do.

You can't just suddenly shift to virtual. Even for the ideal set of students who don't need the supports available in a classroom, you need to have lessons that work in a virtual setting. Those need to be prepared ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

Who is cleaning the 13k or so bus stops??