How would you rate how Mayor Bowser has handled DCPS reopening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is what I would have wanted:
A statement that given # of new cases is X, this is what we are doing. That as long as __(insert metric here)__ is above /below INSERT TARGET HERE, this is what we are doing.

That once schools open, it will be school based metrics so that communities can respond to their needs. If there is a positive case at a school, this is the protocols .........

I need a rules based statement from our leaders - and have not seen anything

I think its really hard to do that because they just don't know how the metrics outside the district affect us. I think what they need to do honestly is look at and set targets for the DMV. It's an area with too much fluidity otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she was doing well early on, but blew it with re-opening things that were NOT school. And now that we know schools will remain close, she STILL hasn't rolled back indoor dining, etc. It's extremely frustrating.

Why should she? D.C. numbers are trending downward with no spikes in cases. I read that only 13 ICU beds in the city were in use last week.

Meanwhile should she open schools to the 50,000 students there is absolutely no way to stop the spread of COVID-19.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that she was doing well early on, but blew it with re-opening things that were NOT school. And now that we know schools will remain close, she STILL hasn't rolled back indoor dining, etc. It's extremely frustrating.

Why should she? D.C. numbers are trending downward with no spikes in cases. I read that only 13 ICU beds in the city were in use last week.

Meanwhile should she open schools to the 50,000 students there is absolutely no way to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Here's the exact data. We are doing very well with limited indoor dining and limited private facilities. There is nothing limited about schools.

Hospital Status Data
August 3, 2020

Total COVID-19 Patients in DC Hospitals: 100
Total COVID-19 Patients in ICU: 17
Total Patients in DC Hospitals (COVID and non-COVID): 1,818
Percentage of pre-COVID Hospital Bed Capacity: 73%

[Anonymous]

I view going back to schools at the moment as stupid as getting on a cruise ship.

Norway cruise ship passengers with coronavirus reach 43

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/norway-cruise-ship-passengers-coronavirus-reach-43-72161186

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the context of other reopening activities, not well (C-). If schools can't open, the administration needs to demonstrate they are serious about getting us to the point where schools can open (e.g., stop all indoor dining).

Outdoor pools are closed but you can go to church with 70 friends and grab a bite to eat being served by a waiter that's been in close contact with fellow waitstaff all day.

Things need to make more sense and priorities need to be clearer.

I agree. The priorities are not clear. I think they should have prioritized a return to school, even hybrid, which would mean shutting down indoor dining, bars, gyms, and larger gatherings to reduce community spread. It also would have meant stockpiling PPE, tests, and other necessary supplies for schools, and creating a real plan for how school would work and how schools would deal with COVID cases among students and staff.

Everyone is winging it, I get that, and I think that DC government has done a decent job of listening to scientists and public health experts, but the decisions being made now don't make a lot of sense to me.

Yeah, prioritizing returning to this sounds like a major win

Nice, even HS kids can’t wear masks!

[Anonymous]

I feel like Bowser and Farabee have done a good job with a very crappy situation.

[Anonymous]

Agreed. I think the mayor is doing the best that she can under the circumstances. We don't have any leadership in our country. Our Government has failed us. The mayor, chancellor, teachers and parents want our schools open. We know the devastating effects of not having the doors of our schools open, but we can't open schools for in person learning without a National Plan. Our country is not in a good state at this point. The mayor and chancellor are working with very little support on the Federal level.

[Anonymous]

She's no worse than any other local politician. In fact she's fine. Trying to manage what she has to deal with. What's the problem? She also has the misfortune of not being in a state.

[Anonymous]

I would have liked to see both of them attempt to better create/flesh out hybrid plans and look at more creative solutions for keeping kids in some kind of school. Outdoor school, “in person” preference for certain populations, etc. I feel like someone in May said TWO DAYS A WEEK! And they all just stuck with that.

I also think it’s an absolute joke that they’re doing this technology survey a month before school starts. Ignoring the fact that NEARLY HALF of DCPS students didn’t have a device of their own last year, we all knew we’d be doing DL at some point this school year. They dropped the ball on planning for that.

[Anonymous]

DC meets any reasonable metric for opening at least hybrid.

If Bowser disagrees, she needs to state the goal to achieve and she plans to get there. And getting lower will involve changing behaviors and closing gyms and bars and indoor dining.

Bowser is silent on these issues and therefore doing terrible.

[Anonymous]

F

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:F

+100. F-

[Anonymous]

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/individual-states/district-of-columbia

This shows DC has a low positivity rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's no worse than any other local politician. In fact she's fine. Trying to manage what she has to deal with. What's the problem? She also has the misfortune of not being in a state.

I actually think that's D.C. superpower. Same federal resources as a state without having to go to a governor begging for intervention or resources. All of the city's resources go to the city instead of say...half of NYC's taxes used to keep backwater NY State from sinking on its own. Same with San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and L.A. providing the entire state of California with 90% of its budget and the country with 20% of its GDP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the context of other reopening activities, not well (C-). If schools can't open, the administration needs to demonstrate they are serious about getting us to the point where schools can open (e.g., stop all indoor dining).

Outdoor pools are closed but you can go to church with 70 friends and grab a bite to eat being served by a waiter that's been in close contact with fellow waitstaff all day.

Things need to make more sense and priorities need to be clearer.

I agree. The priorities are not clear. I think they should have prioritized a return to school, even hybrid, which would mean shutting down indoor dining, bars, gyms, and larger gatherings to reduce community spread. It also would have meant stockpiling PPE, tests, and other necessary supplies for schools, and creating a real plan for how school would work and how schools would deal with COVID cases among students and staff.

Everyone is winging it, I get that, and I think that DC government has done a decent job of listening to scientists and public health experts, but the decisions being made now don't make a lot of sense to me.

A thousand times this