DC now in CDC moderate range for schools - what will this mean for reopening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today DC dipped below 15 new cases per day per 100,000 residents (see article below) putting it in the CDC "moderate" range where elementary schools, according to CDC, can open safely five days per week with the right precautions. Although CDC recommends six feet of distance it also says to use as much distancing as possible if six feet is not possible. For Middle Schools and High Schools hybrid is recommended. Does anyone think that this advice could change the perspective for Term 4 or for the fall? Does anyone know when/if OSSE will update it's guidance?

https://dcist.com/story/21/02/22/dc-md-va-regional-covid-update-cases-falling/

Thank you!

It will not change anything for term 4. The fall, I assume so.

Do you mean that decisions have been made for term 4 already? Or do you mean "no change" in the sense that term 4 will look like the current status quo?

NP. But what you see at your school (minus Hearst) is what you are getting.

Angry Hearst parent here appreciating your qualifier! Parents are uniting. more than 70 have signed onto a letter to the principal recapping the nonsense our kids are dealing with and offering options for Term 4. But in the end, we know it won't matter. Four VIRTUAL half days is all we'll get. She won't even give us learning on Wednesdays like other schools have managed.

Do you at least have four half days for all who want it?

We have four virtual half days. Only 11 K'ers are in person. There's also a couple of CARES classrooms. But for actual in-person, it's 11 K kids. (just fixed it above!)

[Anonymous]

That's crazy. And whoever above wrote that the eleven person cohorts OSSE requirement is the main problem you are right. This cohort rule needs to be changed to have students in class five days per week, as per the CDG guidelines. Also the cohorting rule that requires specials teachers to be virtual needs to be changed so that Wednesdays can be instructional days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's crazy. And whoever above wrote that the eleven person cohorts OSSE requirement is the main problem you are right. This cohort rule needs to be changed to have students in class five days per week, as per the CDG guidelines. Also the cohorting rule that requires specials teachers to be virtual needs to be changed so that Wednesdays can be instructional days.

It’s obviously not safe enough to do so right now, I imagine it’ll change in the fall but no way will it change by term 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's crazy. And whoever above wrote that the eleven person cohorts OSSE requirement is the main problem you are right. This cohort rule needs to be changed to have students in class five days per week, as per the CDG guidelines. Also the cohorting rule that requires specials teachers to be virtual needs to be changed so that Wednesdays can be instructional days.

It’s obviously not safe enough to do so right now, I imagine it’ll change in the fall but no way will it change by term 4.

Of course it's safe enough to do right now. What data do you have that makes it obvious to you it is not? Not even the CDC demands the 11-person limit. OSSE obviously pulled that number out of thin air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today DC dipped below 15 new cases per day per 100,000 residents (see article below) putting it in the CDC "moderate" range where elementary schools, according to CDC, can open safely five days per week with the right precautions. Although CDC recommends six feet of distance it also says to use as much distancing as possible if six feet is not possible. For Middle Schools and High Schools hybrid is recommended. Does anyone think that this advice could change the perspective for Term 4 or for the fall? Does anyone know when/if OSSE will update it's guidance?

https://dcist.com/story/21/02/22/dc-md-va-regional-covid-update-cases-falling/

Thank you!

It will not change anything for term 4. The fall, I assume so.

Do you mean that decisions have been made for term 4 already? Or do you mean "no change" in the sense that term 4 will look like the current status quo?

The vast amount of planning and shifting of schedules for Term 3 to open at our school means no change for Term 4 (my assumption, but I think a very good one). It sucks, I'm not happy about it, but I'm ready to be done with this year.

I hope DCPS is starting to focus on how to open up schools to everyone full-time next Fall.

Agree—this is the thing to focus on from here on out. If pace of vaccination continues to pick up as expected, there shouldn’t be any reason we can’t reopen safely in the fall. Anything that happens in term 4 will be on the margins. I think time and energy is better spent on changing the course of the battleship over the next six months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today DC dipped below 15 new cases per day per 100,000 residents (see article below) putting it in the CDC "moderate" range where elementary schools, according to CDC, can open safely five days per week with the right precautions. Although CDC recommends six feet of distance it also says to use as much distancing as possible if six feet is not possible. For Middle Schools and High Schools hybrid is recommended. Does anyone think that this advice could change the perspective for Term 4 or for the fall? Does anyone know when/if OSSE will update it's guidance?

https://dcist.com/story/21/02/22/dc-md-va-regional-covid-update-cases-falling/

Thank you!

It will not change anything for term 4. The fall, I assume so.

Do you mean that decisions have been made for term 4 already? Or do you mean "no change" in the sense that term 4 will look like the current status quo?

The vast amount of planning and shifting of schedules for Term 3 to open at our school means no change for Term 4 (my assumption, but I think a very good one). It sucks, I'm not happy about it, but I'm ready to be done with this year.

I hope DCPS is starting to focus on how to open up schools to everyone full-time next Fall.

Agree—this is the thing to focus on from here on out. If pace of vaccination continues to pick up as expected, there shouldn’t be any reason we can’t reopen safely in the fall. Anything that happens in term 4 will be on the margins. I think time and energy is better spent on changing the course of the battleship over the next six months.

+1 I don't expect much change, if any, in Term 4 at this point. Like PP, I'd rather the focus be on fully opening schools in the Fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's crazy. And whoever above wrote that the eleven person cohorts OSSE requirement is the main problem you are right. This cohort rule needs to be changed to have students in class five days per week, as per the CDG guidelines. Also the cohorting rule that requires specials teachers to be virtual needs to be changed so that Wednesdays can be instructional days.

It’s obviously not safe enough to do so right now, I imagine it’ll change in the fall but no way will it change by term 4.

Of course it's safe enough to do right now. What data do you have that makes it obvious to you it is not? Not even the CDC demands the 11-person limit. OSSE obviously pulled that number out of thin air.

The COVID rates in the surrounding areas. This is not just about kids, adults live there and could spread it from somewhere they went.
Also you really think for the last 2 months of school any school would be willing to switch classes around again? Unless they were doing simulcast.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the spring is already baked in. Focus now on what needs to happen for the fall. Get all school teachers and staff access to vaccination, get all adults access to vaccination, get infection rates close to zero, and finish any remaining retrofitting of buildings so we can start 5 days of in person school.

[Anonymous]

My family members in the Chicago suburbs are incredulous that kids in DC area are still out. They started back a month after Labor Day and kids have been in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's crazy. And whoever above wrote that the eleven person cohorts OSSE requirement is the main problem you are right. This cohort rule needs to be changed to have students in class five days per week, as per the CDG guidelines. Also the cohorting rule that requires specials teachers to be virtual needs to be changed so that Wednesdays can be instructional days.

It’s obviously not safe enough to do so right now, I imagine it’ll change in the fall but no way will it change by term 4.

Of course it's safe enough to do right now. What data do you have that makes it obvious to you it is not? Not even the CDC demands the 11-person limit. OSSE obviously pulled that number out of thin air.

The COVID rates in the surrounding areas. This is not just about kids, adults live there and could spread it from somewhere they went.
Also you really think for the last 2 months of school any school would be willing to switch classes around again? Unless they were doing simulcast.

The Covid rates are not an answer to the question of what data support your assertion that 11 kids per class is a limit needed for safety. In fact, the data has shown that in a masked situation, the safety increase of six feet distancing vs three feet is very small and doesn't justify the tradeoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family members in the Chicago suburbs are incredulous that kids in DC area are still out. They started back a month after Labor Day and kids have been in school.

And coronavirus is way worse in Chicago than it is DC.

The difference is Chicago has a mayor who actually made school reopening a priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family members in the Chicago suburbs are incredulous that kids in DC area are still out. They started back a month after Labor Day and kids have been in school.

And coronavirus is way worse in Chicago than it is DC.

The difference is Chicago has a mayor who actually made school reopening a priority.

Is there anywhere else in the country at this point where children have not gone back to school in at least some capacity in person if their parents opted for in person outside of this area? Even my nieces and nephews in LA County have gone back in person some days a week. My family in CT has been full time in person for K-8 since October and was hybrid before that point.

What we are experiencing in DC is so far outside the norm at this point it’s unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family members in the Chicago suburbs are incredulous that kids in DC area are still out. They started back a month after Labor Day and kids have been in school.

And coronavirus is way worse in Chicago than it is DC.

The difference is Chicago has a mayor who actually made school reopening a priority.

Huh? You are just spouting stuff you don’t know about. Chicago hasn’t been in school since Labor Day. This person is talking about the suburbs. Get some reading comprehension

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family members in the Chicago suburbs are incredulous that kids in DC area are still out. They started back a month after Labor Day and kids have been in school.

And coronavirus is way worse in Chicago than it is DC.

The difference is Chicago has a mayor who actually made school reopening a priority.

Is there anywhere else in the country at this point where children have not gone back to school in at least some capacity in person if their parents opted for in person outside of this area? Even my nieces and nephews in LA County have gone back in person some days a week. My family in CT has been full time in person for K-8 since October and was hybrid before that point.

What we are experiencing in DC is so far outside the norm at this point it’s unbelievable.

Seriously. I have relatives in Ohio, and their HIGH SCHOOLERS have been full-time in person all year. Yet here my kindergartener sits, staring at a lap top one full year into this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family members in the Chicago suburbs are incredulous that kids in DC area are still out. They started back a month after Labor Day and kids have been in school.

And coronavirus is way worse in Chicago than it is DC.

The difference is Chicago has a mayor who actually made school reopening a priority.

Huh? You are just spouting stuff you don’t know about. Chicago hasn’t been in school since Labor Day. This person is talking about the suburbs. Get some reading comprehension

Yeah and I highly doubt your family in the suburbs is incredulous; Chicago has been a total shitshow worse than DC trying to reopen, and a lot of suburbs are still closed too.