How can kids go 5 days in the fall when school can’t allow 4 days a week now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is not going to be 5 days a week for everybody in the fall.

The only reason not to have 5 days of in-person school is that nutcases( You are likely one of them) are not wanting to go back to proper work, teachers included. I say this kindly, you need medication, and teachers that refuse to properly work, need to be fired.
Teachers will all be vaccinated and if they still refuse to work in person? That is because they want to get paid for a job they are refusing to do. No teacher was hired to work from home.

The PP it's not a nutcase. You just don't want to accept the remote possibility that it could happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that’s the rub, isn’t it. That’s why we’re fighting so hard for 5 days or even 4 days a week now for everyone who wants it. Right now FCPS’s “plan” for the fall is “hope the CDC takes away all their guidance.” Guidance is just that, by the way, it’s certainly not a law or formalized regulation that the schools must follow or be legally penalized - plenty of districts have been in person full time already.

You have lost touch with reality.

Oooh nice comeback. Way to address the substance of the situation.

[Anonymous]

By the fall everyone 16 years of age and older will have the option to have been vaccinated. This means all the Teachers, all the Staff, all the Volunteers, and some of the students.

The trials for kids are 12-15 have been under way for a while. Preliminary results showed that there was 100% efficacy in preventing illness, hospitalization, and death in the kids who were vaccinated. 18 unvaccinated kids in the control group did get COVID. There were 2,000 kids in the study, I think it was 2,200 actually. I suspect that the vaccine will be approved for 12 and above before the fall and Middle School kids and up should have the ability to be vaccinated.

There are trials under way for infants to 11 as I type. I suspect that they will move quickly since they have data from other groups and can extrapolate a certain amount. While I don't think they will be able to vaccinate ES kids in the fall, I suspect that will be available by Winter Break. ES have not gotten sick at the same rate as older kids or adults. The kids who have gotten sick have tended to be mild. A small number have died but not a number that is particularly scary to me as a parent.

HS and MS should be able to return with very little worries. ES kids will probably need to wear masks. But community transmission should be drastically reduced as the number of vaccinated adults and teens increases. This reduces the chances of younger kids to get and spread COVID. With vaccines and lower community spread, COVID becomes a new flu type bug. Hospitals will be better prepared to treat those who get sick but most people should be fine. We will probably need an annual COVID shot, like the flu shot, but we don't know that quite yet.

I received the pneumonia vaccine when it was first released because I had pneumonia twice in a 4 month period. I got the vaccine every year for 3 years before they realized that it was effective for a longer period of time. I think I get it once every 5 years now. The COVID vaccine could end up being the same thing. We don't know yet.

But schools will be back full time in the fall.

[Anonymous]

I asked a friend who is in administration for FCPS this exact question. Basically her answer was there is a lot to plan for to get kids back full-time, and they have the runway to do it for the fall but not for the rest of this year. More time to make a plan for lunch and buses, order plexiglass, hire even more monitors (for lunch) if needed, etc.

I don't really buy that argument because they should have been doing it as a contingency all along but that's the Gatehouse reasoning.

[Anonymous]

Almost everyone will be vaccinated by the fall.
At least everyone who wants a vaccination will have one.

[Anonymous]

Brabrand said in a school board work session that he has asked for an instructional hours waiver for SY 2021-2022. You can email a few people down in Richmond and ask them to please reject the request:

VA Secretary of Education, Atif Qarni: [e-mail]
Governor Northam's Chief of Staff, Clark Mercer: [e-mail]
VA Superintendent of Schools, Dr. James Lane: [e-mail]
VA Deputy Superintendent of School Quality, Donald Fairheart: [e-mail]
VA Deputy Superintendent for Policy, Equity and Communications, Holly Coy: [e-mail]

Without an instructional hours waiver not being five full days in the fall will cost FCPS $$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I asked a friend who is in administration for FCPS this exact question. Basically her answer was there is a lot to plan for to get kids back full-time, and they have the runway to do it for the fall but not for the rest of this year. More time to make a plan for lunch and buses, order plexiglass, hire even more monitors (for lunch) if needed, etc.

I don't really buy that argument because they should have been doing it as a contingency all along but that's the Gatehouse reasoning.

What have they been doing all year? I'm from Upstate New York and school districts were buying plexiglass last summer and kids are in school five days a week now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is not going to be 5 days a week for everybody in the fall.

Yes, there will. They’re just experiencing growing pains right now after coming out of a yearlong DL haze. The CDC will eliminate distancing requirements over the summer. The wheels are being set in motion. Yesterday, the CDC director said she expects fall to be fully in-person.

But if you mean that some kids opt into whatever limited DL option they decide to roll out, that’s probably true.

No, there isn't.

The school board is already talking about getting a waiver from the state so they don't have to have students 5 days/week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By the fall everyone 16 years of age and older will have the option to have been vaccinated. This means all the Teachers, all the Staff, all the Volunteers, and some of the students.

The trials for kids are 12-15 have been under way for a while. Preliminary results showed that there was 100% efficacy in preventing illness, hospitalization, and death in the kids who were vaccinated. 18 unvaccinated kids in the control group did get COVID. There were 2,000 kids in the study, I think it was 2,200 actually. I suspect that the vaccine will be approved for 12 and above before the fall and Middle School kids and up should have the ability to be vaccinated.

There are trials under way for infants to 11 as I type. I suspect that they will move quickly since they have data from other groups and can extrapolate a certain amount. While I don't think they will be able to vaccinate ES kids in the fall, I suspect that will be available by Winter Break. ES have not gotten sick at the same rate as older kids or adults. The kids who have gotten sick have tended to be mild. A small number have died but not a number that is particularly scary to me as a parent.

HS and MS should be able to return with very little worries. ES kids will probably need to wear masks. But community transmission should be drastically reduced as the number of vaccinated adults and teens increases. This reduces the chances of younger kids to get and spread COVID. With vaccines and lower community spread, COVID becomes a new flu type bug. Hospitals will be better prepared to treat those who get sick but most people should be fine. We will probably need an annual COVID shot, like the flu shot, but we don't know that quite yet.

I received the pneumonia vaccine when it was first released because I had pneumonia twice in a 4 month period. I got the vaccine every year for 3 years before they realized that it was effective for a longer period of time. I think I get it once every 5 years now. The COVID vaccine could end up being the same thing. We don't know yet.

But schools will be back full time in the fall.

Fully vaccinated teachers are still refusing to teach in person, fyi

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked a friend who is in administration for FCPS this exact question. Basically her answer was there is a lot to plan for to get kids back full-time, and they have the runway to do it for the fall but not for the rest of this year. More time to make a plan for lunch and buses, order plexiglass, hire even more monitors (for lunch) if needed, etc.

I don't really buy that argument because they should have been doing it as a contingency all along but that's the Gatehouse reasoning.

What have they been doing all year? I'm from Upstate New York and school districts were buying plexiglass last summer and kids are in school five days a week now.

CDC said ditch the plexiglass because it impedes airflow and potentially makes the situation worse. I hope they aren't buying plexiglass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked a friend who is in administration for FCPS this exact question. Basically her answer was there is a lot to plan for to get kids back full-time, and they have the runway to do it for the fall but not for the rest of this year. More time to make a plan for lunch and buses, order plexiglass, hire even more monitors (for lunch) if needed, etc.

I don't really buy that argument because they should have been doing it as a contingency all along but that's the Gatehouse reasoning.

What have they been doing all year? I'm from Upstate New York and school districts were buying plexiglass last summer and kids are in school five days a week now.

CDC said ditch the plexiglass because it impedes airflow and potentially makes the situation worse. I hope they aren't buying plexiglass.

No kidding. Everything we are doing is a year behind. Next year schools will normal and many states without masks and we will still have floor stickers and signs and plexiglass.

[Anonymous]

As I understood it, the rationale for two days instead of four was to allow smaller class sizes and 6ft of distancing, which is no longer needed.

The rationale for four days instead of five was to have a planning day because the combination of virtual and in person, ie concurrent learning, required some logistics and planning that were a larger lift than normal.

So, as long as there is no virtual at all next year (OR virtual is segregated out completely, and there's like a district wide virtual option with totally different teachers for high-risk students only), then you should be fine with five days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is not going to be 5 days a week for everybody in the fall.

Yes, there will. They’re just experiencing growing pains right now after coming out of a yearlong DL haze. The CDC will eliminate distancing requirements over the summer. The wheels are being set in motion. Yesterday, the CDC director said she expects fall to be fully in-person.

But if you mean that some kids opt into whatever limited DL option they decide to roll out, that’s probably true.

No, there isn't.

The school board is already talking about getting a waiver from the state so they don't have to have students 5 days/week.

Just because they apply for a waiver doesn't mean they'll get one. Almost all political leadership (local, state, and national) want kids inside the classroom fulltime next year. And just because they get a waiver doesn't mean they'll act upon it. Maybe they want it to have the option. What's the upside for the SB keeping kids outside the classroom next fall? The teachers are already back inside the classroom. The teachers hate concurrent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I understood it, the rationale for two days instead of four was to allow smaller class sizes and 6ft of distancing, which is no longer needed.

The rationale for four days instead of five was to have a planning day because the combination of virtual and in person, ie concurrent learning, required some logistics and planning that were a larger lift than normal.

So, as long as there is no virtual at all next year (OR virtual is segregated out completely, and there's like a district wide virtual option with totally different teachers for high-risk students only), then you should be fine with five days.

This is all true as long as the CDC drops the 6 foot distancing guidance for any time masks are down (breakfast, lunch, ES snack). If they don't, there are OF COURSE a million creative solutions to deal with it. Unfortunately many FCPS schools have already said they cannot deal with it and are keeping classes at 6 feet.

If the CDC/VDH don't change that, what do you expect to happen for fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is not going to be 5 days a week for everybody in the fall.

Yes, there will. They’re just experiencing growing pains right now after coming out of a yearlong DL haze. The CDC will eliminate distancing requirements over the summer. The wheels are being set in motion. Yesterday, the CDC director said she expects fall to be fully in-person.

But if you mean that some kids opt into whatever limited DL option they decide to roll out, that’s probably true.

No, there isn't.

The school board is already talking about getting a waiver from the state so they don't have to have students 5 days/week.

Just because they apply for a waiver doesn't mean they'll get one. Almost all political leadership (local, state, and national) want kids inside the classroom fulltime next year. And just because they get a waiver doesn't mean they'll act upon it. Maybe they want it to have the option. What's the upside for the SB keeping kids outside the classroom next fall? The teachers are already back inside the classroom. The teachers hate concurrent.

Their current plan for fall is basically the CDC dropping distancing requirements. The waiver is their contingency plan in case that doesn't happen (or possibly in case the SB forces Brabrand into concurrent by complaining that everyone who wants it should have access to virtual - who would put that past our SB?). They could instead have a contingency plan that handles 3' space in classrooms and 6' space at eating times, but there is so far zero evidence they have done that.