Disenrolling from DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dis-enrolling from ECE doesn't make sense, but I'm seeing parents with options dis-enroll from our DCPS in the upper grades, more than I expected. I'm hearing about a real mix of parents (diplomats, Federal employees, government contractors, Americans and foreigners) moving to southern states, Europe and Asian countries where school will be open 5 days a week.

Parents feel burned by how DCPS strung us along in closing school in 2-4 week increments in the spring. They don't believe that school system and teachers union teachers are serious about re-opening this year, or even in the spring, or serious about keeping us properly informed on the planning front.

This is just not DCPS. This is all surrounding counties. What is the closest school district that will be open?

At Fairfax has been upfront about it. No school for the rest of the year. We were strung along in the spring for political reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has been quite surprising/disappointing to see some liberal friends of mine who have turned really anti union in this time.

Come on, the teachers union has been difficult. The Mayor's Office has been difficult. OSSE has been difficult. DCPS leaders have been difficult. The White House has been insanely difficult. Call me virulently anti all of them right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been quite surprising/disappointing to see some liberal friends of mine who have turned really anti union in this time.

Come on, the teachers union has been difficult. The Mayor's Office has been difficult. OSSE has been difficult. DCPS leaders have been difficult. The White House has been insanely difficult. Call me virulently anti all of them right now.

I don’t think teachers should be vilified for wanting safe working conditions. And pointing out other workers who have had to do so, as some of these friends have done, isn’t a valid argument for me. Just points out we do a really crappy job of protecting workers in general. And the fact that the complaints have come from people who can work at home basically in perpetuity is really hypocritical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm planning on unenrolling my PreK-3 kid as well, need to figure out how -- virtual makes no sense for her, I'm planning on sending her to a nursery school that plans to open. In case any kids are on the waitlist, I'd like to make sure they get a spot if they want it. Also, don't want the school to be unfairly allocated money for a kid that isn't attending.

Call the school. They can take you off the list and call the next person waiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been quite surprising/disappointing to see some liberal friends of mine who have turned really anti union in this time.

Come on, the teachers union has been difficult. The Mayor's Office has been difficult. OSSE has been difficult. DCPS leaders have been difficult. The White House has been insanely difficult. Call me virulently anti all of them right now.

I don’t think teachers should be vilified for wanting safe working conditions. And pointing out other workers who have had to do so, as some of these friends have done, isn’t a valid argument for me. Just points out we do a really crappy job of protecting workers in general. And the fact that the complaints have come from people who can work at home basically in perpetuity is really hypocritical.

Safer working conditions, sure, perfectly safe. not possible during a global pandemic. DCPS should try a lot harder to ensure that teachers' working conditions are safe. Nonetheless, at this rate, the wellspring of support for the teachers and their union on the part of public will peter out eventually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been quite surprising/disappointing to see some liberal friends of mine who have turned really anti union in this time.

Come on, the teachers union has been difficult. The Mayor's Office has been difficult. OSSE has been difficult. DCPS leaders have been difficult. The White House has been insanely difficult. Call me virulently anti all of them right now.

So, if you're proposing safer but not perfectly safe, what does that look like? Teachers in full PPE every day? Because the reality of the structure of our school buildings makes it impossible to be socially distant at school. Take a look at Gwinnett County, Georgia, which was mandating that teachers do their virtual lessons from their classrooms even though the students would be remote. After the first day of in-person teacher planning, 260 teachers called in to say they had tested positive for COVID or had been exposed to someone who was. I'm not a teacher, I'm just a parent who also desperately wants my children to be back in school, getting the socialization they have been craving for months. But we are clearly unable to keep people safe in a meaningful way in any institutional setting. The idea that "safer" is safe enough is garbage. The social contract is broken because of people who think that their individual freedoms and needs are more important than the needs of the many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent of a PK-3 kid. Given what's going on with DCPS (in particular the grip WTU has on our children's future) are any of you considering disenrolling and moving to either a daycare or private option this year? I feel I cannot afford a full academic year of politics and nonsense DL at the expense of my child's development. Anyone out there feeling the same way?

lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent of a PK-3 kid. Given what's going on with DCPS (in particular the grip WTU has on our children's future) are any of you considering disenrolling and moving to either a daycare or private option this year? I feel I cannot afford a full academic year of politics and nonsense DL at the expense of my child's development. Anyone out there feeling the same way?

Yes, I'm also considering disenrollince learning was a mess for my 4 year old in the spring, and my 3 year old has cognitive and speech delays so I don't see it working for him, either. I'll probably enroll my eldest in part time nursery school and continue to work with my youngest as best I can.

[Anonymous]

Grip WTU has? Whatever are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Ohhh no. Whatever will we do without your 3 year olds???
Answer: move down the list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been quite surprising/disappointing to see some liberal friends of mine who have turned really anti union in this time.

Come on, the teachers union has been difficult. The Mayor's Office has been difficult. OSSE has been difficult. DCPS leaders have been difficult. The White House has been insanely difficult. Call me virulently anti all of them right now.

So, if you're proposing safer but not perfectly safe, what does that look like? Teachers in full PPE every day? Because the reality of the structure of our school buildings makes it impossible to be socially distant at school. Take a look at Gwinnett County, Georgia, which was mandating that teachers do their virtual lessons from their classrooms even though the students would be remote. After the first day of in-person teacher planning, 260 teachers called in to say they had tested positive for COVID or had been exposed to someone who was. I'm not a teacher, I'm just a parent who also desperately wants my children to be back in school, getting the socialization they have been craving for months. But we are clearly unable to keep people safe in a meaningful way in any institutional setting. The idea that "safer" is safe enough is garbage. The social contract is broken because of people who think that their individual freedoms and needs are more important than the needs of the many.

Not really. The social contract is mainly broken because the public health care system has been underfunded for decades, and our current president is an incompetent jerk. We can't keep schools closed forever without jeopardizing our economic recovery. Yes, I'd prefer teachers and kids in full PPE every day than closed schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would tell us what we need to do to stay enrolled in terms of minimum participation. Our school told us in the spring that normal truancy policies applies, and I never saw anything from DCPS saying they didn't.

our school (a charter) has told us that OSSE is enforcing daily attendance and that they are able to set their own system for doing so. it will likely be some combination of daily "checking in" via virtual platform, your teacher seeing your kid in a synchronous session, and/or work being submitted.

If I had a kid doing a virtual pk-3 class, I'd love to see them come talk to me about...truancy.

[Anonymous]

OP, while the politics are frustrating, that stuff really has zero impact on your child’s day-to-day experience.

The real question is what is the use of PK3 DL. And you’ll have that same issue with private preschool (though perhaps not daycare).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would tell us what we need to do to stay enrolled in terms of minimum participation. Our school told us in the spring that normal truancy policies applies, and I never saw anything from DCPS saying they didn't.

our school (a charter) has told us that OSSE is enforcing daily attendance and that they are able to set their own system for doing so. it will likely be some combination of daily "checking in" via virtual platform, your teacher seeing your kid in a synchronous session, and/or work being submitted.

If I had a kid doing a virtual pk-3 class, I'd love to see them come talk to me about...truancy.

My younger one actually was in PK3. I thought it was insane. But I like my school and I think they were doing their best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would tell us what we need to do to stay enrolled in terms of minimum participation. Our school told us in the spring that normal truancy policies applies, and I never saw anything from DCPS saying they didn't.

our school (a charter) has told us that OSSE is enforcing daily attendance and that they are able to set their own system for doing so. it will likely be some combination of daily "checking in" via virtual platform, your teacher seeing your kid in a synchronous session, and/or work being submitted.

Interesting we haven't heard anything about attendance for the day.. or how much of the day a kid needs to be "seen" to count for the day.