FCPS School board mtg at 10:00 Thurs...live stream

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Stop ranting and maybe you’ll be able to absorb the point.

DP--the point is that the SB has been more concerned about social issues than education. Social issues deserve some attention, but it seems like that is where all the attention goes.

And, FWIW, young women have manage this issue for many, many years. Does anyone know how the program is working? Are supplies readily available?

That is really what the tampon PP is arguing. Pointing to pads/tampons, however, is a red herring. Your point is that this whole debacle wouldn't have happened if the school board wasn't distracted by social justice and social equity issues. I disagree with your position. I think the blame lays with the FCPS IT dept, the Chief Operating Officer, and Blackboard.... people who weren't involved in the social issues you despise.

The school board wasn't really responsible for making the technical parts of distance learning work. So whatever the school board was doing, it was negligible in terms of the technical failure.

They are responsible for oversight, which they clearly don’t do.

PP is kind of dense. No one expects a School Board member to be an IT specialist. We do expect the School Board and the Superintendent to make sure the right people with the right skills are in place to handle key FCPS needs, such as technology, facilities, and curriculum.

FCPS has been failing miserably because those with the most authority have misguided priorities and don't pay attention to the basics.

Let’s repeat. You do not need to be an IT expert to provide oversight. There are successful IT programs that are managed by non-IT experts. Do you think you have to be a demographer to run a successful decennial census? nope. There are BASIC project / program management skills that if functioning properly would have caught this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That is really what the tampon PP is arguing. Pointing to pads/tampons, however, is a red herring. Your point is that this whole debacle wouldn't have happened if the school board wasn't distracted by social justice and social equity issues. I disagree with your position. I think the blame lays with the FCPS IT dept, the Chief Operating Officer, and Blackboard.... people who weren't involved in the social issues you despise.

The school board wasn't really responsible for making the technical parts of distance learning work. So whatever the school board was doing, it was negligible in terms of the technical failure.

However, they are responsible for oversight. They have neglected it. I wonder how much they understand about the Blackboard contract? The contract for all the computers given to students? I'm betting, not much.

This is where our money goes. Far more money than is spent on tampons. It deserved far more attention. It may be complex, and difficult to understand the technology--but their job is to watch it. It's a lot easier to talk about tampons and appear altruistic than it is to get into the contract weeds. And, that is what they should be watching.

Just look at the funds we spend on IT. And, that affects the education of EVERY student in Fairfax--rich or poor.

The board isn't supposed to be IT experts! They are supposed to hire people who are experts to do the job or provide the product. The buck stops with the people who are supposed to be IT experts.

This. Maribeth Luftglass needs to go. It is unacceptable that she let this happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

That is really what the tampon PP is arguing. Pointing to pads/tampons, however, is a red herring. Your point is that this whole debacle wouldn't have happened if the school board wasn't distracted by social justice and social equity issues. I disagree with your position. I think the blame lays with the FCPS IT dept, the Chief Operating Officer, and Blackboard.... people who weren't involved in the social issues you despise.

The school board wasn't really responsible for making the technical parts of distance learning work. So whatever the school board was doing, it was negligible in terms of the technical failure.

However, they are responsible for oversight. They have neglected it. I wonder how much they understand about the Blackboard contract? The contract for all the computers given to students? I'm betting, not much.

This is where our money goes. Far more money than is spent on tampons. It deserved far more attention. It may be complex, and difficult to understand the technology--but their job is to watch it. It's a lot easier to talk about tampons and appear altruistic than it is to get into the contract weeds. And, that is what they should be watching.

Just look at the funds we spend on IT. And, that affects the education of EVERY student in Fairfax--rich or poor.

The board isn't supposed to be IT experts! They are supposed to hire people who are experts to do the job or provide the product. The buck stops with the people who are supposed to be IT experts.

This. Maribeth Luftglass needs to go. It is unacceptable that she let this happen.

She shouldn’t be the only fall person. Brabrand needs to go as well, along with ineffective holdover Board members like Corbett Sanders and Keys Gamarra. should

[Anonymous]

Many of the IT specialists in schools are former PE teachers who wanted to do something different, but couldn't obtain certification in a field of study and noted that they "were good with computers," i.e., playing solitaire and videos. Presto-digito, you are now promoted to IT specialist. Back in the day, this was not a critical resource position. But now it is. And we see the results.

[Anonymous]

The buck stops with the specialized leader in charge. That would be Luftglass. The decision -- for better or worse --to embrace both synchronous and asynchronous learning falls at the feet of Brabrand. However, the failure of technology implementation and execution is a Luftglass-fiasco and ruination.

[Anonymous]

Astonishing that someone keeps harping on about tampons in schools. Do you also think people should bring their own toilet paper from home? Not every boy needs to poop at school during the day, and since it is rare and just a personal hygiene issue, seems like people should just take care of their own toilet paper. Tampkns, on the other hand, need to be changed at least twice during every school day during the period. So they are arguably far more essential supplies to stock than toilet paper.

[Anonymous]

School tampons suck anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Astonishing that someone keeps harping on about tampons in schools. Do you also think people should bring their own toilet paper from home? Not every boy needs to poop at school during the day, and since it is rare and just a personal hygiene issue, seems like people should just take care of their own toilet paper. Tampkns, on the other hand, need to be changed at least twice during every school day during the period. So they are arguably far more essential supplies to stock than toilet paper.

There have always been supplies for menstruation in schools. They just weren't placed in every restroom and restocked by custodians. They were available at the school nurse, but most young women brought their own-or asked a friend in an emergency. It's not that hard to keep them in your locker.
I suspect that this is not working, as no one has discussed it on here. Pretty sure any supplies available are walking out the door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The buck stops with the specialized leader in charge. That would be Luftglass. The decision -- for better or worse --to embrace both synchronous and asynchronous learning falls at the feet of Brabrand. However, the failure of technology implementation and execution is a Luftglass-fiasco and ruination.

She is the manifestation of the problem, not the cause.

Brabrand needs to be held accountable, as do Corbett Sanders and other incompetent SB members like Keys Gamarra with no talent for oversight of a large school system.