Concerned about DCPS Term 4

[Anonymous]

Check out what this advocacy group of fed up parents in San Francisco is doing. We should be organizing at this level.

decreasingthedistance.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

But there should be. I have three kids. Only 1 is going to in person classes for one class a week. Granted they are at Deal & Wilson which have overcrowding issues. But, if Murch can get all the kids back in for two days of the week - I expect a lot more from them!

I did read that they weren't feeling that much pressure yet to reopen. So, if you want it - apply some pressure.

Mayor Bowser:
Website: http://murielformayor.com/
Address: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202 - 724 - 2643
[e-mail]

DCPS Chancellor - Lewis Ferebee - [e-mail]

DC Council
I was going to put the council member in charge of Education Committee but did you know they eliminated that in January? It's now in the Committe of the Whole which Mendelson Chairs and everyone is on. Good? Bad?
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504726/mendelson-announces-new-dc-council-committee-assignments/

Anyway - email Mendelson and your council member!

Phil Mendelson: [e-mail]
Anita Bonds (At Large): [e-mail]
Elissa Silverman (At Large): [e-mail]
Robert White (At Large): [e-mail]
Christina Henderson(At Large): [e-mail]
Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1): [e-mail]
Brooke Pinto (Ward 2): [e-mail]
Mary Cheh (Ward 3): [e-mail]
Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4): [e-mail]
Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5): [e-mail]
Charles Allen (Ward 6): [e-mail]
Vincent Gray (Ward 7): [e-mail]
Trayon White (Ward 8): [e-mail]

You absolutely cannot compare Murch to Deal and Wilson. The complexity of middle and high school schedules is enormous. At Murch the kids have, at most, two teachers and they are a cohort. That isn’t how things work in MS and HS. The comparison is really unfair.

Different poster here. I absolutely blame DCPS and the mayor for refusing to do anything about the overcrowding at schools like Deal and Wilson. For years, ward 3 folks have been lobbying them to do something. They couldn’t care less and now we have this mess. Thanks Chancellor and Mayor for making my kids education a political football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

But there should be. I have three kids. Only 1 is going to in person classes for one class a week. Granted they are at Deal & Wilson which have overcrowding issues. But, if Murch can get all the kids back in for two days of the week - I expect a lot more from them!

I did read that they weren't feeling that much pressure yet to reopen. So, if you want it - apply some pressure.

Mayor Bowser:
Website: http://murielformayor.com/
Address: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202 - 724 - 2643
[e-mail]

DCPS Chancellor - Lewis Ferebee - [e-mail]

DC Council
I was going to put the council member in charge of Education Committee but did you know they eliminated that in January? It's now in the Committe of the Whole which Mendelson Chairs and everyone is on. Good? Bad?
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504726/mendelson-announces-new-dc-council-committee-assignments/

Anyway - email Mendelson and your council member!

Phil Mendelson: [e-mail]
Anita Bonds (At Large): [e-mail]
Elissa Silverman (At Large): [e-mail]
Robert White (At Large): [e-mail]
Christina Henderson(At Large): [e-mail]
Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1): [e-mail]
Brooke Pinto (Ward 2): [e-mail]
Mary Cheh (Ward 3): [e-mail]
Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4): [e-mail]
Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5): [e-mail]
Charles Allen (Ward 6): [e-mail]
Vincent Gray (Ward 7): [e-mail]
Trayon White (Ward 8): [e-mail]

Only 50 percent are back in the building at Murch. So hardly "all."

Mendo moved education to the committee of the whole when he stripped Grasso -- an incompetent boob -- of the chairmanship during his last term. This was a good move. Then he decided to keep it in the committee of the whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

But there should be. I have three kids. Only 1 is going to in person classes for one class a week. Granted they are at Deal & Wilson which have overcrowding issues. But, if Murch can get all the kids back in for two days of the week - I expect a lot more from them!

I did read that they weren't feeling that much pressure yet to reopen. So, if you want it - apply some pressure.

Mayor Bowser:
Website: http://murielformayor.com/
Address: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202 - 724 - 2643
[e-mail]

DCPS Chancellor - Lewis Ferebee - [e-mail]

DC Council
I was going to put the council member in charge of Education Committee but did you know they eliminated that in January? It's now in the Committe of the Whole which Mendelson Chairs and everyone is on. Good? Bad?
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504726/mendelson-announces-new-dc-council-committee-assignments/

Anyway - email Mendelson and your council member!

Phil Mendelson: [e-mail]
Anita Bonds (At Large): [e-mail]
Elissa Silverman (At Large): [e-mail]
Robert White (At Large): [e-mail]
Christina Henderson(At Large): [e-mail]
Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1): [e-mail]
Brooke Pinto (Ward 2): [e-mail]
Mary Cheh (Ward 3): [e-mail]
Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4): [e-mail]
Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5): [e-mail]
Charles Allen (Ward 6): [e-mail]
Vincent Gray (Ward 7): [e-mail]
Trayon White (Ward 8): [e-mail]

Only 50 percent are back in the building at Murch. So hardly "all."

Mendo moved education to the committee of the whole when he stripped Grasso -- an incompetent boob -- of the chairmanship during his last term. This was a good move. Then he decided to keep it in the committee of the whole.

I know it’s only 50% but to you know what the demand was? You don’t hear people on here complaining about Murch. So I wonder if they met the demand.

[Anonymous]

My impression is that they don’t plan to make changes for Term 4. And, I agree, IT IS VERY WRONG. 1.5 years without school is malpractice. 3 months of this year would be far better than none if this year.

One problem is some if OSSE’s requirements need to be relaxed. Some of the cleaning and spacing protocols border on the absurd. For example, if a classroom has a AM and PM cohorts, then the classroom has to be fully sanitized between cohorts — but also the teacher has to have a unique, otherwise unused office or classroom to go to during cleaning time.

For Term 4, they just need to open the windows and let buildings be more fully utilized.

And, I agree with PP that the willful overcrowding of WTOP was an abomination before and is a complete disaster in the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

But there should be. I have three kids. Only 1 is going to in person classes for one class a week. Granted they are at Deal & Wilson which have overcrowding issues. But, if Murch can get all the kids back in for two days of the week - I expect a lot more from them!

I did read that they weren't feeling that much pressure yet to reopen. So, if you want it - apply some pressure.

Mayor Bowser:
Website: http://murielformayor.com/
Address: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202 - 724 - 2643
[e-mail]

DCPS Chancellor - Lewis Ferebee - [e-mail]

DC Council
I was going to put the council member in charge of Education Committee but did you know they eliminated that in January? It's now in the Committe of the Whole which Mendelson Chairs and everyone is on. Good? Bad?
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504726/mendelson-announces-new-dc-council-committee-assignments/

Anyway - email Mendelson and your council member!

Phil Mendelson: [e-mail]
Anita Bonds (At Large): [e-mail]
Elissa Silverman (At Large): [e-mail]
Robert White (At Large): [e-mail]
Christina Henderson(At Large): [e-mail]
Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1): [e-mail]
Brooke Pinto (Ward 2): [e-mail]
Mary Cheh (Ward 3): [e-mail]
Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4): [e-mail]
Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5): [e-mail]
Charles Allen (Ward 6): [e-mail]
Vincent Gray (Ward 7): [e-mail]
Trayon White (Ward 8): [e-mail]

You absolutely cannot compare Murch to Deal and Wilson. The complexity of middle and high school schedules is enormous. At Murch the kids have, at most, two teachers and they are a cohort. That isn’t how things work in MS and HS. The comparison is really unfair.

Different poster here. I absolutely blame DCPS and the mayor for refusing to do anything about the overcrowding at schools like Deal and Wilson. For years, ward 3 folks have been lobbying them to do something. They couldn’t care less and now we have this mess. Thanks Chancellor and Mayor for making my kids education a political football.

PP who compared Murch to Deal & Wilson. I had/have kids at all three so I am quite aware of the differences between them. And yes - at Murch they have less class switching. However, I view what Wilson is doing is absolutely pathetic. One class a week? I'll give Deal a lot more latitude because I know how hard Neal tries. Plus, their policy on who comes back to class was clear and logical unlike the Wilson vague mess of matters!

[Anonymous]

The biggest hurdle is osse’s bathroom rule. One one child in at a time, and it has to sit empty for 15 minutes. If this gets relaxed, many more kids can be back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest hurdle is osse’s bathroom rule. One one child in at a time, and it has to sit empty for 15 minutes. If this gets relaxed, many more kids can be back.

Yeah. Is there any science behind this?

[Anonymous]

Principal Neal said that her hope is to bring more kids into the building at Deal as teachers get vaccinated and volunteer to return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest hurdle is osse’s bathroom rule. One one child in at a time, and it has to sit empty for 15 minutes. If this gets relaxed, many more kids can be back.

Yeah. Is there any science behind this?

Of course not. NP but the policy is ridiculous. And restricts schools tremendously. It could take a 10 person class 2.5 hours to cycle through bathroom use once. That is insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I’m not sure. There has been no talk of it yet but we have been so busy with re opening plans. I sincerely do think we will try to expand for term 4.

Thanks for your comment. As I parent, I would love to see some ideas coming from teachers about what can be done. Fine waiting til you get back and see the situation first. My frustration has been that the teachers union has been insisting on nothing rather than looking for any small steps forward. Please be safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest hurdle is osse’s bathroom rule. One one child in at a time, and it has to sit empty for 15 minutes. If this gets relaxed, many more kids can be back.

Yeah. Is there any science behind this?

Of course not. NP but the policy is ridiculous. And restricts schools tremendously. It could take a 10 person class 2.5 hours to cycle through bathroom use once. That is insane.

I would love for parents to lobby osse about this rule. It’s absurd.

[Anonymous]

This is it. Some schools will be able to expand a little bit but DCPS has brought back pretty much all of the teachers who could come (60%).

Your non-title 1 schools especially are filled. So if your child is at a school that is not title 1, it's very unlikely that there will be many more in person slots.

I am in person now and have 3 students, I feel thankful for having to be back in person. They are all just ELL students, easiest job ever. No one at my school wanted to come back and now class sizes have ballooned to 36-40.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is it. Some schools will be able to expand a little bit but DCPS has brought back pretty much all of the teachers who could come (60%).

Your non-title 1 schools especially are filled. So if your child is at a school that is not title 1, it's very unlikely that there will be many more in person slots.

I am in person now and have 3 students, I feel thankful for having to be back in person. They are all just ELL students, easiest job ever. No one at my school wanted to come back and now class sizes have ballooned to 36-40.

See that seems so crazy to me. Is it that so few families wanted to return? In that case admin should have said all virtual because there isn’t enough demand for in person. It is a waste of resources to have a class of three and another class of 38.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is it. Some schools will be able to expand a little bit but DCPS has brought back pretty much all of the teachers who could come (60%).

Your non-title 1 schools especially are filled. So if your child is at a school that is not title 1, it's very unlikely that there will be many more in person slots.

I am in person now and have 3 students, I feel thankful for having to be back in person. They are all just ELL students, easiest job ever. No one at my school wanted to come back and now class sizes have ballooned to 36-40.

See that seems so crazy to me. Is it that so few families wanted to return? In that case admin should have said all virtual because there isn’t enough demand for in person. It is a waste of resources to have a class of three and another class of 38.

Schools aren’t allowed to say that. They HAD to open (which is so dumb in these types of situations)