no progress on virtual learning plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel county is looking pretty smart having an approved virtual learning plan for snow that they used during the last snow storm, and having built in 3 snow days into the calendar.

MCPS is the stupid Maryland county.

Baltimore County too- but apparently special needs and equity concerns only exist in mcps

Spare us your ignorant virtue signaling. NYC. And many districts in Long Island and New York State. And Boston and thousands of school districts around the country use virtual learning for weather emergencies.

If you look at the MSDE form, there's a requirement that MCPS submit the virtual learning plan form with an extensive section on accomodations for kids with IEPs. But yes, some less professional MCPS staffers prefer having more days off and preferring that MCPS kids get no education at all and try to ask Maryland for a waiver on the 180 days of required instruction so all MCPS kids can learn less.

sorry my sarcasm wasn't apparent-- i assume equity and special needs exists in nyc and baltimore county. and think switching to hours instead of days will shortchange our kids education.

It’s better to get some education than no education. Paras can be online and they can do services online.

You're obviously woefully unfamiliar with what paraeducators do. Our IEPs acknowledge that the supports can't be provided virtually. It has been a nonissue because MCPS doesn't have virtual. We're certainly not the only ones.

I am very familiar with it as I have a SN child who did virtual for four years till it was taken away from us. Maybe its an issue for you, but it worked very well for some of us.

+1. There’s someone on this forum spreading lies about what special needs services kids receive and how virtual learning affects them. You do not speak for all special needs families. They are not a homogenous lump you can trot out as an excuse for not giving MCPS their required instructional time.

They're not, but common special education supports and services cannot be provided virtually, and no one has provided a clear and credible proposal for how to accommodate those kidsZ

I would love to understand a concrete example of a special education support that would not be able to be provided for a virtual day or two, why this is such a big giant deal in the scheme of an entire school year, and why this should prevent all the other students in the district from having an opportunity to access instruction.

The real issue is they don't want to be bothered.

+1 Winner winner chicken dinner. MCPS could have copy and pasted their name into the plans submitted by Anne Arundel and Baltimore County. But they prefer this approach of not being expected to do virtual learning, because then they won't be required to do extra work, especially if the attitude from MCPS management is to keep seeking waivers so MCPS staff can work less than the 180 required days.

Reading that, now I understand why the kids engage in so much academic dishonesty. Their parents promote it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really tired of people who are pissed off that MCPS stayed closed too long during the pandemic trying to insist that virtual learning is useless and doesn't work at all. Yes, we get it, over the course of a whole year kids fell behind where they would have been if they'd been in in-person school. That absolutely does not mean that kids can't learn anything from a few virtual snow days.

You're right- they are different.

Snow isn't an exceptional event in the winter. We know it happens. We know MCPS doesn't want to open if there's snow. So they should build in an appropriate number of days to the calendar based on historical patterns.

And that's obviously going to be more than 1 day.

This year didn’t fit the historical pattern for the last decade. It was more like 2009 than 2016.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel and PG County are both doing virtual learning today. They were smart enough to get their acts together and submit the required plan to Maryland.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/02/22/dc-maryland-virginia-school-closings-winter-storm-snow/

If only they'd live-stream classes so we could see how much 8-year-olds cover.

Of course, we already know the answer.

In MCPS, we don't even have workbooks. The teachers have to print out the worksheets.

I know I typed out my math homework in LaTeX in grad school, but I don't see 2nd grader doing that with number bonds.

[Anonymous]

I work for Baltimore County schools and we do virtual learning after 3 snow days. It’s been working well for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

Sounds like a good thing. Likely hints had been given for years and it was brushed off as the teacher’s fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am really tired of people who are pissed off that MCPS stayed closed too long during the pandemic trying to insist that virtual learning is useless and doesn't work at all. Yes, we get it, over the course of a whole year kids fell behind where they would have been if they'd been in in-person school. That absolutely does not mean that kids can't learn anything from a few virtual snow days.

You're right- they are different.

Snow isn't an exceptional event in the winter. We know it happens. We know MCPS doesn't want to open if there's snow. So they should build in an appropriate number of days to the calendar based on historical patterns.

And that's obviously going to be more than 1 day.

This year didn’t fit the historical pattern for the last decade. It was more like 2009 than 2016.

It is much closer to what's typical than the MCPS calendar expects, which only accommodates a single snow day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel and PG County are both doing virtual learning today. They were smart enough to get their acts together and submit the required plan to Maryland.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/02/22/dc-maryland-virginia-school-closings-winter-storm-snow/

If only they'd live-stream classes so we could see how much 8-year-olds cover.

Of course, we already know the answer.

In MCPS, we don't even have workbooks. The teachers have to print out the worksheets.

I know I typed out my math homework in LaTeX in grad school, but I don't see 2nd grader doing that with number bonds.

Some classes have workbooks and textbooks, some teachers also choose not use them. But, they could do something...

[Anonymous]

Dear MCPS Personnel,

I do NOT want virtual learning for elementary school. It's a waste of time and my kids won't be getting up to fumble around with the technology. I'd rather my kids stay warm and tucked in bed while I work remotely and keep my meetings on pace. To do virtual learning requires too much on parents and I don't want my children to have that much screen time.

No, THANK YOU!

Signed,
Parents of Young Learners'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear MCPS Personnel,

I do NOT want virtual learning for elementary school. It's a waste of time and my kids won't be getting up to fumble around with the technology. I'd rather my kids stay warm and tucked in bed while I work remotely and keep my meetings on pace. To do virtual learning requires too much on parents and I don't want my children to have that much screen time.

No, THANK YOU!

Signed,
Parents of Young Learners'

You are a lazy parent. You work virtually and find the value in that. You spend all day on screens and instead of working are here. You can get the material and homeschool them for the day. Let the rest of our kids get an education while yours lay in bed bored while you ignore them for work and DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel county is looking pretty smart having an approved virtual learning plan for snow that they used during the last snow storm, and having built in 3 snow days into the calendar.

MCPS is the stupid Maryland county.

Baltimore County too- but apparently special needs and equity concerns only exist in mcps

Spare us your ignorant virtue signaling. NYC. And many districts in Long Island and New York State. And Boston and thousands of school districts around the country use virtual learning for weather emergencies.

If you look at the MSDE form, there's a requirement that MCPS submit the virtual learning plan form with an extensive section on accomodations for kids with IEPs. But yes, some less professional MCPS staffers prefer having more days off and preferring that MCPS kids get no education at all and try to ask Maryland for a waiver on the 180 days of required instruction so all MCPS kids can learn less.

sorry my sarcasm wasn't apparent-- i assume equity and special needs exists in nyc and baltimore county. and think switching to hours instead of days will shortchange our kids education.

It’s better to get some education than no education. Paras can be online and they can do services online.

You're obviously woefully unfamiliar with what paraeducators do. Our IEPs acknowledge that the supports can't be provided virtually. It has been a nonissue because MCPS doesn't have virtual. We're certainly not the only ones.

I am very familiar with it as I have a SN child who did virtual for four years till it was taken away from us. Maybe its an issue for you, but it worked very well for some of us.

+1. There’s someone on this forum spreading lies about what special needs services kids receive and how virtual learning affects them. You do not speak for all special needs families. They are not a homogenous lump you can trot out as an excuse for not giving MCPS their required instructional time.

They're not, but common special education supports and services cannot be provided virtually, and no one has provided a clear and credible proposal for how to accommodate those kidsZ

I would love to understand a concrete example of a special education support that would not be able to be provided for a virtual day or two, why this is such a big giant deal in the scheme of an entire school year, and why this should prevent all the other students in the district from having an opportunity to access instruction.

The real issue is they don't want to be bothered.

+1 Winner winner chicken dinner. MCPS could have copy and pasted their name into the plans submitted by Anne Arundel and Baltimore County. But they prefer this approach of not being expected to do virtual learning, because then they won't be required to do extra work, especially if the attitude from MCPS management is to keep seeking waivers so MCPS staff can work less than the 180 required days.

Reading that, now I understand why the kids engage in so much academic dishonesty. Their parents promote it.

By that analogy, your prefer that kids not turn in their assignments at all, if you want them to be like MCPS who promised a virtual learning plan for snow in 2024 and still hasn't done it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work for Baltimore County schools and we do virtual learning after 3 snow days. It’s been working well for us.

That's how my relatives have their school in their district in NY state. 2 days snow closure, then automatically moves to virtual learning on day 3. No drama. They have 4 snow days built in the calendar in addition. I don't get why everything in MCPS is so ad hoc. Just make a policy on the calendar and stick to it. We don't need this waiver BS every year...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel and PG County are both doing virtual learning today. They were smart enough to get their acts together and submit the required plan to Maryland.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/02/22/dc-maryland-virginia-school-closings-winter-storm-snow/

If only they'd live-stream classes so we could see how much 8-year-olds cover.

Of course, we already know the answer.

In MCPS, we don't even have workbooks. The teachers have to print out the worksheets.

I know I typed out my math homework in LaTeX in grad school, but I don't see 2nd grader doing that with number bonds.

Well gee. If it can't be perfect instructional time, better that no instructional time occur at all, like what we have now. And MCPS can just ask the state for waivers so MCPS kids get shortchanged relative to their peers nationwide who get 180 days of schooling (and not this stupid half day in end June crap, where all the teachers are going to send subs as they start their vacations/second jobs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel county is looking pretty smart having an approved virtual learning plan for snow that they used during the last snow storm, and having built in 3 snow days into the calendar.

MCPS is the stupid Maryland county.

Baltimore County too- but apparently special needs and equity concerns only exist in mcps

Spare us your ignorant virtue signaling. NYC. And many districts in Long Island and New York State. And Boston and thousands of school districts around the country use virtual learning for weather emergencies.

If you look at the MSDE form, there's a requirement that MCPS submit the virtual learning plan form with an extensive section on accomodations for kids with IEPs. But yes, some less professional MCPS staffers prefer having more days off and preferring that MCPS kids get no education at all and try to ask Maryland for a waiver on the 180 days of required instruction so all MCPS kids can learn less.

sorry my sarcasm wasn't apparent-- i assume equity and special needs exists in nyc and baltimore county. and think switching to hours instead of days will shortchange our kids education.

It’s better to get some education than no education. Paras can be online and they can do services online.

You're obviously woefully unfamiliar with what paraeducators do. Our IEPs acknowledge that the supports can't be provided virtually. It has been a nonissue because MCPS doesn't have virtual. We're certainly not the only ones.

I am very familiar with it as I have a SN child who did virtual for four years till it was taken away from us. Maybe its an issue for you, but it worked very well for some of us.

+1. There’s someone on this forum spreading lies about what special needs services kids receive and how virtual learning affects them. You do not speak for all special needs families. They are not a homogenous lump you can trot out as an excuse for not giving MCPS their required instructional time.

They're not, but common special education supports and services cannot be provided virtually, and no one has provided a clear and credible proposal for how to accommodate those kidsZ

I would love to understand a concrete example of a special education support that would not be able to be provided for a virtual day or two, why this is such a big giant deal in the scheme of an entire school year, and why this should prevent all the other students in the district from having an opportunity to access instruction.

The real issue is they don't want to be bothered.

+1 Winner winner chicken dinner. MCPS could have copy and pasted their name into the plans submitted by Anne Arundel and Baltimore County. But they prefer this approach of not being expected to do virtual learning, because then they won't be required to do extra work, especially if the attitude from MCPS management is to keep seeking waivers so MCPS staff can work less than the 180 required days.

Reading that, now I understand why the kids engage in so much academic dishonesty. Their parents promote it.

By that analogy, your prefer that kids not turn in their assignments at all, if you want them to be like MCPS who promised a virtual learning plan for snow in 2024 and still hasn't done it.

Well, yes, it is preferable that students turn in nothing rather than cheat.

You’d rather that your kids cheat than turn in nothing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel county is looking pretty smart having an approved virtual learning plan for snow that they used during the last snow storm, and having built in 3 snow days into the calendar.

MCPS is the stupid Maryland county.

Baltimore County too- but apparently special needs and equity concerns only exist in mcps

Spare us your ignorant virtue signaling. NYC. And many districts in Long Island and New York State. And Boston and thousands of school districts around the country use virtual learning for weather emergencies.

If you look at the MSDE form, there's a requirement that MCPS submit the virtual learning plan form with an extensive section on accomodations for kids with IEPs. But yes, some less professional MCPS staffers prefer having more days off and preferring that MCPS kids get no education at all and try to ask Maryland for a waiver on the 180 days of required instruction so all MCPS kids can learn less.

sorry my sarcasm wasn't apparent-- i assume equity and special needs exists in nyc and baltimore county. and think switching to hours instead of days will shortchange our kids education.

It’s better to get some education than no education. Paras can be online and they can do services online.

You're obviously woefully unfamiliar with what paraeducators do. Our IEPs acknowledge that the supports can't be provided virtually. It has been a nonissue because MCPS doesn't have virtual. We're certainly not the only ones.

I am very familiar with it as I have a SN child who did virtual for four years till it was taken away from us. Maybe its an issue for you, but it worked very well for some of us.

+1. There’s someone on this forum spreading lies about what special needs services kids receive and how virtual learning affects them. You do not speak for all special needs families. They are not a homogenous lump you can trot out as an excuse for not giving MCPS their required instructional time.

They're not, but common special education supports and services cannot be provided virtually, and no one has provided a clear and credible proposal for how to accommodate those kidsZ

I would love to understand a concrete example of a special education support that would not be able to be provided for a virtual day or two, why this is such a big giant deal in the scheme of an entire school year, and why this should prevent all the other students in the district from having an opportunity to access instruction.

The real issue is they don't want to be bothered.

+1 Winner winner chicken dinner. MCPS could have copy and pasted their name into the plans submitted by Anne Arundel and Baltimore County. But they prefer this approach of not being expected to do virtual learning, because then they won't be required to do extra work, especially if the attitude from MCPS management is to keep seeking waivers so MCPS staff can work less than the 180 required days.

Reading that, now I understand why the kids engage in so much academic dishonesty. Their parents promote it.

By that analogy, your prefer that kids not turn in their assignments at all, if you want them to be like MCPS who promised a virtual learning plan for snow in 2024 and still hasn't done it.

Well, yes, it is preferable that students turn in nothing rather than cheat.

You’d rather that your kids cheat than turn in nothing?

You need to take a basic class on research and methods, and learn what academic dishonesty is. MCPS is welcome to reference the many existing virtual learning plans for snow emergencies that exist for thousands of districts around the country: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, PG County, Alexandria VA, NYC, Boston, San Francisco.

That is not cheating. That is considered smart research, rather than wasting MoCo taxpayer resources reinventing the wheel because MoCo wants to be a "special snowflake."

It is not preferable that MoCo turns in nothing, when it said to the BOE it would turn in a virtual learning plan for weather emergencies back in 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anne Arundel county is looking pretty smart having an approved virtual learning plan for snow that they used during the last snow storm, and having built in 3 snow days into the calendar.

MCPS is the stupid Maryland county.

Baltimore County too- but apparently special needs and equity concerns only exist in mcps

Spare us your ignorant virtue signaling. NYC. And many districts in Long Island and New York State. And Boston and thousands of school districts around the country use virtual learning for weather emergencies.

If you look at the MSDE form, there's a requirement that MCPS submit the virtual learning plan form with an extensive section on accomodations for kids with IEPs. But yes, some less professional MCPS staffers prefer having more days off and preferring that MCPS kids get no education at all and try to ask Maryland for a waiver on the 180 days of required instruction so all MCPS kids can learn less.

sorry my sarcasm wasn't apparent-- i assume equity and special needs exists in nyc and baltimore county. and think switching to hours instead of days will shortchange our kids education.

It’s better to get some education than no education. Paras can be online and they can do services online.

You're obviously woefully unfamiliar with what paraeducators do. Our IEPs acknowledge that the supports can't be provided virtually. It has been a nonissue because MCPS doesn't have virtual. We're certainly not the only ones.

I am very familiar with it as I have a SN child who did virtual for four years till it was taken away from us. Maybe its an issue for you, but it worked very well for some of us.

+1. There’s someone on this forum spreading lies about what special needs services kids receive and how virtual learning affects them. You do not speak for all special needs families. They are not a homogenous lump you can trot out as an excuse for not giving MCPS their required instructional time.

They're not, but common special education supports and services cannot be provided virtually, and no one has provided a clear and credible proposal for how to accommodate those kidsZ

I would love to understand a concrete example of a special education support that would not be able to be provided for a virtual day or two, why this is such a big giant deal in the scheme of an entire school year, and why this should prevent all the other students in the district from having an opportunity to access instruction.

The real issue is they don't want to be bothered.

+1 Winner winner chicken dinner. MCPS could have copy and pasted their name into the plans submitted by Anne Arundel and Baltimore County. But they prefer this approach of not being expected to do virtual learning, because then they won't be required to do extra work, especially if the attitude from MCPS management is to keep seeking waivers so MCPS staff can work less than the 180 required days.

Reading that, now I understand why the kids engage in so much academic dishonesty. Their parents promote it.

By that analogy, your prefer that kids not turn in their assignments at all, if you want them to be like MCPS who promised a virtual learning plan for snow in 2024 and still hasn't done it.

Well, yes, it is preferable that students turn in nothing rather than cheat.

You’d rather that your kids cheat than turn in nothing?

You need to take a basic class on research and methods, and learn what academic dishonesty is. MCPS is welcome to reference the many existing virtual learning plans for snow emergencies that exist for thousands of districts around the country: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, PG County, Alexandria VA, NYC, Boston, San Francisco.

That is not cheating. That is considered smart research, rather than wasting MoCo taxpayer resources reinventing the wheel because MoCo wants to be a "special snowflake."

It is not preferable that MoCo turns in nothing, when it said to the BOE it would turn in a virtual learning plan for weather emergencies back in 2024.

Doing research and then tailoring the best ideas to your population is not the same as the “copy-pasting” that was suggested.