What’s your elementary school plan?

[Anonymous]

Cold Spring presentation tonight was not very specific but principal did make it sound as though students would not be on Chromebooks all day at school. The teacher would be teaching in the classroom and students at home would be following along from home. I would imagine that means that students in the room would be following along on the prometheon board per usual in school set up? Students will find out on Tuesday if there teacher is coming back. Principal insinuated a good portion are coming back.

K-2 would be in 4 days every week - as is the MCPS policy
3, 4 and 5 would alternate A week/B week with the entire grade on the same schedule so all of 3rd grade will be in building one week and home the next

Looks like about 70% requested to come back to school and 30 % are staying virtual

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring presentation tonight was not very specific but principal did make it sound as though students would not be on Chromebooks all day at school. The teacher would be teaching in the classroom and students at home would be following along from home. I would imagine that means that students in the room would be following along on the prometheon board per usual in school set up? Students will find out on Tuesday if there teacher is coming back. Principal insinuated a good portion are coming back.

K-2 would be in 4 days every week - as is the MCPS policy
3, 4 and 5 would alternate A week/B week with the entire grade on the same schedule so all of 3rd grade will be in building one week and home the next

Looks like about 70% requested to come back to school and 30 % are staying virtual

Bethesda ES presentation said similar. The kids who are in person will be watching the teacher who is also in person. Teacher will put her presentation on the Prometheon board. Kids would have Chromebooks and would use them periodically to enter assignments, for specials, maybe for breakout groups. But would not be on them constantly because the teacher is there and they'd be watching her. Teacher would be positioned in front of a Chromebook so the kids at home can see her.

The kicker is that one grade, unspecified, has too many kids slated to return so they will have to have some of them in overflow rooms. I am guessing first grade (the grade my kid is in) given that last year when they were kindergarteners they had to add an entire class partway through the fall. It's a really big group.

[Anonymous]

Pleasantly surprised by our school’s plan for return! There will be some Zoom but also some in person and recess. It sounds like the teachers/admin are excited for the kids to return. I’m feeling hopeful.

[Anonymous]

Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

What punishment would you suggest for parents who send asymptotic kids? Are you going to hold them strictly liable even if they had no idea or reason to believe the kid had Covid?

Ignoring that wrinkle, there isn't really anything that the school itself can do. They can't ban children after they have recovered. They probably can't ban parents from taking part in school activities once school is more normal.

If the county wanted to try to bring reckless endangerment or similar charges that at least would be plausible. Similarly, a parent whose kid got infected could try to bring civil claims. But I am at a loss as to what you think the school could, never mind should, do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

These are exactly the concerns teachers have been raising for months. “Teachable moment” is code for the teacher will encourage them to wear it but there are no repercussions.

[dcmom]

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

Sounds like you should switch your kid to DL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

What punishment would you suggest for parents who send asymptotic kids? Are you going to hold them strictly liable even if they had no idea or reason to believe the kid had Covid?

Ignoring that wrinkle, there isn't really anything that the school itself can do. They can't ban children after they have recovered. They probably can't ban parents from taking part in school activities once school is more normal.

If the county wanted to try to bring reckless endangerment or similar charges that at least would be plausible. Similarly, a parent whose kid got infected could try to bring civil claims. But I am at a loss as to what you think the school could, never mind should, do.

I honestly don’t know. No, I don’t want charges brought. But the complete dodging of the question makes me think the administration will shrug their shoulders because they can’t actually do anything. Like the mask wearing. They’ll keep telling the kid to put on/pull up their mask 100x. I’m just worried about parents who knowingly send their sick or exposed kids to school. This has always happened with strep or other viruses, but covid is different and so I would hope the administration’s plans would be different.

[Anonymous]

dcmom wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

Sounds like you should switch your kid to DL.

We’re leaning this way, but wanted to hear the school’s plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

These are exactly the concerns teachers have been raising for months. “Teachable moment” is code for the teacher will encourage them to wear it but there are no repercussions.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course it's more complicated than do you want to be vaccinated but the PP said "setting aside access issues." It's probably not feasible to get everyone who works at a school vaccinated before kids start coming back, but what about "you must be vaccinated by return to school in Fall 2021"?

FWIW--I have friends who teach at private schools and the administrations are aggressively working to get people vaccinated. Not that I'd expect BOE to do the same for MCPS employees....

Employers cant mandate a vaccine approved on an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). This conversation might be different in 2022, but there are not going to be any [legal] mandates of employees while we are vaccinating under an EUA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course it's more complicated than do you want to be vaccinated but the PP said "setting aside access issues." It's probably not feasible to get everyone who works at a school vaccinated before kids start coming back, but what about "you must be vaccinated by return to school in Fall 2021"?

FWIW--I have friends who teach at private schools and the administrations are aggressively working to get people vaccinated. Not that I'd expect BOE to do the same for MCPS employees....

Employers cant mandate a vaccine approved on an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). This conversation might be different in 2022, but there are not going to be any [legal] mandates of employees while we are vaccinating under an EUA.

It is not clear cut that an employer can't mandate a vaccine under EUA. But, the legal uncertainty probably will stop most employers from doing so. And mandating is arguably harder when the employer is the government, like is the case with MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

What punishment would you suggest for parents who send asymptotic kids? Are you going to hold them strictly liable even if they had no idea or reason to believe the kid had Covid?

Ignoring that wrinkle, there isn't really anything that the school itself can do. They can't ban children after they have recovered. They probably can't ban parents from taking part in school activities once school is more normal.

If the county wanted to try to bring reckless endangerment or similar charges that at least would be plausible. Similarly, a parent whose kid got infected could try to bring civil claims. But I am at a loss as to what you think the school could, never mind should, do.

I don’t know what you expect a school to do if a parent sent an asymptomatic kid to school, because the very definition of that is that the kid is exhibiting no symptoms, giving a parent no reason to keep them home. If you are this concerned about something people have no control over, DL is probably best for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

These are exactly the concerns teachers have been raising for months. “Teachable moment” is code for the teacher will encourage them to wear it but there are no repercussions.

Exactly.

Wearing masks should be a non issue for 1st/2nd grade and up in the ES. I have seen that kids that age are generally pretty good about wearing masks. They have gotten used to the fact that they have to wear them, the kids in my neighborhood, which is right next to an ES, are always wearing masks when they are on the playgrounds, etc. Most of this needs to be on the parents. If you haven’t taken your kid anywhere that they would need to wear a mask you need to start getting them used to wearing one if you plan on sending them back to school. But honestly if you are sending your kid to school, you have probably already had your kid in situations where mask wearing is non-negotiable. Will there need to be reminders to make sure they are over the nose, particularly at recess, sure. But that is different than kids coming to school and refusing to wear it, I really don’t think that is something you are going to see in ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school’s presentation was tonight and I have a lot of concerns. Kids will keep their teachers but all instruction is virtual, even if the kids are in person with their teacher in front of them. Ok, not ideal, but ok. But when asked what will happen to students who repeatedly refuse to wear masks or wear them improperly, the AP said it will be a “teachable moment” as we encourage the child to wear their mask. Then, several parents asked via chat how we can prevent parents from sending sick students to school. We were all ignored. I am concerned that parents will send asymptomatic students or students with mild covid symptoms to school, and there will be no repercussions.

Multiple people also asked about the plan for contact tracing, quarantine, and testing. We were told MCPS hasn’t decided yet. Seriously?! You've had 6-8 months to think through this exact scenario and you don’t know? I suspect they won’t or can’t do anything about tracing and quarantining, so they’re dodging until we go back, hoping we’ll all forget about it and worry about other details.

What punishment would you suggest for parents who send asymptotic kids? Are you going to hold them strictly liable even if they had no idea or reason to believe the kid had Covid?

Ignoring that wrinkle, there isn't really anything that the school itself can do. They can't ban children after they have recovered. They probably can't ban parents from taking part in school activities once school is more normal.

If the county wanted to try to bring reckless endangerment or similar charges that at least would be plausible. Similarly, a parent whose kid got infected could try to bring civil claims. But I am at a loss as to what you think the school could, never mind should, do.

I don’t know what you expect a school to do if a parent sent an asymptomatic kid to school, because the very definition of that is that the kid is exhibiting no symptoms, giving a parent no reason to keep them home. If you are this concerned about something people have no control over, DL is probably best for you.

In my niece’s school, a kid came to school and told everyone their parents were at home sick with covid. I don’t know what happened in that situation, but I think that kid should have been sent home to quarantine and DL for a week. But unfortunately, there are selfish and irresponsible parents who will ignore the recommendations to stay home and quarantine. Assuming MCPS gives us recommendations.