APS - getting nervous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should go back to virtual. With delta, you should be anxious about sending the kids to school in person.

I intend to lobby hard to revoke that reckless law.

You're crazy. Let me guess, you have a cushy "work" from home job and older kids, so virtual schooling is low cost for you. Guess what, it's horrible for a very large number of other people. COVID is not a big risk for the vast majority of kids, and teachers and staff can all get vaccinated (and in my opinion, should have to be).

[Anonymous]

there's a lot to be nervous about with this school district, but I don't think this is one of those things,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I may be paranoid and tainted from the last 1.5 years in APS. But with the rise in cases in Arlington, I'm definitely getting nervous Duran will shift to remote. Especially given the amount of funding he invested in the DL program. This could be a great way to justify his spending. I could use some reassurance here - can anyone in APS enlighten me?

Luckily the state had such low faith in Arlington, Fairfax and other NOVA school districts, school boards and county boards that they severely limited their ability to close school again. You are right to not have much faith in APS - luckily, neither did our governor nor legislature. They even made sure "in-person" doesn't include "Zoom in a Room".

Here is that law:
https://legiscan.com/VA/text/SB1303/2021/X1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah. There's an election this year. Full-time virtual is not going to happen.

If it gets bad, most people will want virtual school. This was always the most popular position for parents and teachers. Only a minority of very vocal crazies stamped their feet and demanded in-person schooling.

It was always a majority of Arlington kids that their parents wanted them to go in-person. It was really bad last winter...and parents still wanted their kids in person.

If you want your kid home, keep them home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah. There's an election this year. Full-time virtual is not going to happen.

If it gets bad, most people will want virtual school. This was always the most popular position for parents and teachers. Only a minority of very vocal crazies stamped their feet and demanded in-person schooling.

No, parents do not want virtual school. Older students are vaccinated. Elementary students aren't old equipped to learn by Teams.

[Anonymous]

We are going back in person. Open houses will be in person, teachers are having in person PD and trainings. If things start getting bad before elementary kids can get the vaccine then we might see a shift to concurrent but I seriously doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah. There's an election this year. Full-time virtual is not going to happen.

If it gets bad, most people will want virtual school. This was always the most popular position for parents and teachers. Only a minority of very vocal crazies stamped their feet and demanded in-person schooling.

No, parents do not want virtual school. Older students are vaccinated. Elementary students aren't old equipped to learn by Teams.

I’m a teacher. I don’t want virtual school. No colleague I know wants that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah. There's an election this year. Full-time virtual is not going to happen.

If it gets bad, most people will want virtual school. This was always the most popular position for parents and teachers. Only a minority of very vocal crazies stamped their feet and demanded in-person schooling.

No, parents do not want virtual school. Older students are vaccinated. Elementary students aren't old equipped to learn by Teams.

I’m a teacher. I don’t want virtual school. No colleague I know wants that.

I'm a staff person. While a lot of us were scared when schools opened up last Spring, it became our new normal and most of us adjusted. Some of our classes went under quarantine, but we all came out of it and back to our classes.

The thing we don't want to do is concurrent again. No way.

I'd rather go back to the buildings with everyone in a mask and everyone over 12 vaccinated.

[Anonymous]

During the last school year, virtual learning was the preferred option of minority families because there was a very real risk of spreading infections to older members of multigenerational households. With available vaccines for those 12 and older, this dynamic has likely changed.

I saw how difficult it was to concurrently teach in-person and online was for our teachers and they were great. So many logistical issues. It would be more cohesive to take instruction from the Virginia Virtual Academy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should go back to virtual. With delta, you should be anxious about sending the kids to school in person.

I intend to lobby hard to revoke that reckless law.

Good for you, but you’re in the minority and against science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah. There's an election this year. Full-time virtual is not going to happen.

If it gets bad, most people will want virtual school. This was always the most popular position for parents and teachers. Only a minority of very vocal crazies stamped their feet and demanded in-person schooling.

Are you the same crazy person from the other thread, threatening to write her senators to reverse the law?

[Anonymous]

Why is it ok for some schools to have outdoor lunch and others not? What’s the point of masking all day if kids are going to eat lunch in the cafeteria with 200-300 other kids? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of masking the rest of the day? I’m talking elementary school level here where kids aren’t vaccine eligible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it ok for some schools to have outdoor lunch and others not? What’s the point of masking all day if kids are going to eat lunch in the cafeteria with 200-300 other kids? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of masking the rest of the day? I’m talking elementary school level here where kids aren’t vaccine eligible.

Not every school has the space or the will to do outdoor lunch. Lobby your principal if you aren’t happy with the arrangements. Eating in classrooms in elementary makes more sense to me than trying to require lunch for all outdoors if you are trying to make a change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My anxiety shot up massively yesterday. I think it's a bit of PTSD from last summer, and I feel like the walls are closing in around us again.

I really hope that they do not try to default back to virtual. They've set such a bad precedent with all of the insanity and shenanigans from the past year and a half.

The very great irony to me is that we waited and waited contingent up on vaccines etc etc etc, and now look--here we are back at square one. Vaccinated individuals can be infected (albeit with less severe outcomes). Viruses mutate. Always have, always will. So, we basically are doing what we could have (should have) done last year. Incredible.

+1000. will APS ever just require vaccinations for those eligible and start treating this like the flu??? Or just revert to DL and concurrent learning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it ok for some schools to have outdoor lunch and others not? What’s the point of masking all day if kids are going to eat lunch in the cafeteria with 200-300 other kids? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of masking the rest of the day? I’m talking elementary school level here where kids aren’t vaccine eligible.

Not every school has the space or the will to do outdoor lunch. Lobby your principal if you aren’t happy with the arrangements. Eating in classrooms in elementary makes more sense to me than trying to require lunch for all outdoors if you are trying to make a change.

For our school it's not about space, it's about staffing. The principal says there are not staff to supervise outdoor lunch. And APS used its covid relief funds to fill a budget gap rather than actually mitigating covid issues. Go figure.p