BOE Meeting today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jack Smith says enrollment is down 2,200 students K-12, and 1,000 students in PreK.

Pre-K is only income-eligible kids (head start and otherwise). That's more concerning than "pods" and flight to private schools.

But the benefit of remote instruction for pre-K, for families, has to be a lot less than the benefit of actual pre-K.

Oh, completely agree that DL isn't great (or frankly, may not be worth it). I just mean that not having kids in it has long term effects. Pre-k has been shown to help close achievement gaps, and with fewer eligible kids in it, they have the potential to worsen even more.

Not having kids in actual pre-K. I doubt that there's any research about virtual pre-K?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jack Smith says enrollment is down 2,200 students K-12, and 1,000 students in PreK.

Pre-K is only income-eligible kids (head start and otherwise). That's more concerning than "pods" and flight to private schools.

But the benefit of remote instruction for pre-K, for families, has to be a lot less than the benefit of actual pre-K.

Oh, completely agree that DL isn't great (or frankly, may not be worth it). I just mean that not having kids in it has long term effects. Pre-k has been shown to help close achievement gaps, and with fewer eligible kids in it, they have the potential to worsen even more.

Not having kids in actual pre-K. I doubt that there's any research about virtual pre-K?

Right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Board also just said there will probably never be a snow day again, "thanks" to virtual learning options. Makes sense, but sad.

Why is that "sad"? Kids have plenty of time to play outside when it snows during DL.

Because an unexpected day free of responsibilities is a rare pleasure in life, and one that I like seeing my kids have (and have myself), and I'll be sad to lose that.

I imagine that DL during what previously would have been a snow day will still allow for some of this, but it won't be quite the same.

LOL.. this just goes to show that MCPS will *never* be able to please everyone.

I recall with such clarity how people on here thought snow days were ridiculous and why do we have so many, that parts of the US don't have snow days unless there is a huge blizzard.

Yet, here we are .. a parent lamenting how we won't have snow days during DL, which already feels like a half day for the most part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they still haven't actually talked about reopening yet, have they?

I was also curious on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS slideshow quotes DCUM comment from "How's your kindergartner doing?" thread.

what did they say?

MCPS IF YOU ARE READING THIS OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!!!!

At least 6 Beautiful, caring, dedicated professionals dead forever. People with so many more years to live and gifts to share. No we should not open back up until we have the resources to ensure that our teachers, our students and our communities will be safe. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/10/coronavirus-teacher-deaths-fall/%3foutputType=amp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they still haven't actually talked about reopening yet, have they?

I was also curious on that.

They seemed to go on recess without address reopening metrics. It's not clear if they're going to move on to the next agenda topic given that they're running so far behind schedule. But that would be ridiculous, given that it seems like it should be one of the most important topics.

If they don't come back to that, it's a pretty clear sign the superintendent and BoE don't expect to reopen this school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they still haven't actually talked about reopening yet, have they?

I was also curious on that.

They seemed to go on recess without address reopening metrics. It's not clear if they're going to move on to the next agenda topic given that they're running so far behind schedule. But that would be ridiculous, given that it seems like it should be one of the most important topics.

If they don't come back to that, it's a pretty clear sign the superintendent and BoE don't expect to reopen this school year.

Really? It's not like this is the last BoE meeting until next summer. They meet regularly. There's another meeting on September 22, for example.

[Anonymous]

They are showing slides now and talking about feedback from the community and they have a post from DCUM (about how a kindergartener was doing).

Soooo? Which post? We're on pins & needles here ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they still haven't actually talked about reopening yet, have they?

I was also curious on that.

They seemed to go on recess without address reopening metrics. It's not clear if they're going to move on to the next agenda topic given that they're running so far behind schedule. But that would be ridiculous, given that it seems like it should be one of the most important topics.

If they don't come back to that, it's a pretty clear sign the superintendent and BoE don't expect to reopen this school year.

Really? It's not like this is the last BoE meeting until next summer. They meet regularly. There's another meeting on September 22, for example.

I stand by that statement.

Not addressing reopening in any meaningful way indicates two key points. First, that they're not prioritizing in-person instruction. And two, that the Superintendent doesn't really care what the BoE thinks, and isn't going to actively engage the Board with reopening decisions. Since the MCPS administration has already demonstrated they're beholden to the teachers with the ridiculous 45-day notice MOU, it seems quite likely that reopening won't happen unless an external force (namely, the BoE) puts pressure on the superintendent to do that. Letting the superintendent avoid that issue also indicates that the BoE is happy to be left out of that decision as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they still haven't actually talked about reopening yet, have they?

I was also curious on that.

They seemed to go on recess without address reopening metrics. It's not clear if they're going to move on to the next agenda topic given that they're running so far behind schedule. But that would be ridiculous, given that it seems like it should be one of the most important topics.

If they don't come back to that, it's a pretty clear sign the superintendent and BoE don't expect to reopen this school year.

Really? It's not like this is the last BoE meeting until next summer. They meet regularly. There's another meeting on September 22, for example.

DP, but for them to not even mention it, though? To acknowledge the issue and the questions they've received about it? I agree that if they can't even do that, it shows what a low priority reopening is for them. Unsurprising, but disappointing, nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS slideshow quotes DCUM comment from "How's your kindergartner doing?" thread.

what did they say?

MCPS IF YOU ARE READING THIS OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!!!!

At least 6 Beautiful, caring, dedicated professionals dead forever. People with so many more years to live and gifts to share. No we should not open back up until we have the resources to ensure that our teachers, our students and our communities will be safe. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/10/coronavirus-teacher-deaths-fall/%3foutputType=amp

Unfortunately, some people exploit these deaths to push their agenda. Most probably, these were not due to any in-person school (wtop was also publishing similar title, but when you read the whole story you realize the teachers were actually doing DL, attending some church events where there was an outbreak, doing some outdoor activity etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

They are showing slides now and talking about feedback from the community and they have a post from DCUM (about how a kindergartener was doing).

Soooo? Which post? We're on pins & needles here ?

I want to know too! Anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS slideshow quotes DCUM comment from "How's your kindergartner doing?" thread.

what did they say?

MCPS IF YOU ARE READING THIS OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!!!!

At least 6 Beautiful, caring, dedicated professionals dead forever. People with so many more years to live and gifts to share. No we should not open back up until we have the resources to ensure that our teachers, our students and our communities will be safe. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/10/coronavirus-teacher-deaths-fall/%3foutputType=amp

None of those teachers got COVID from school. It is sad, but it looks like they all contracted in the community especially since they all died just as schools were starting to open. I’m not sure what point you are trying to make. Community spread is happening now. There’s actually zero evidence schools being open has increased community spread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They are showing slides now and talking about feedback from the community and they have a post from DCUM (about how a kindergartener was doing).

Soooo? Which post? We're on pins & needles here ?

I want to know too! Anyone?

It was from someone encouraging everyone to have patience and treat others with grace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they still haven't actually talked about reopening yet, have they?

I was also curious on that.

They seemed to go on recess without address reopening metrics. It's not clear if they're going to move on to the next agenda topic given that they're running so far behind schedule. But that would be ridiculous, given that it seems like it should be one of the most important topics.

If they don't come back to that, it's a pretty clear sign the superintendent and BoE don't expect to reopen this school year.

Really? It's not like this is the last BoE meeting until next summer. They meet regularly. There's another meeting on September 22, for example.

I stand by that statement.

Not addressing reopening in any meaningful way indicates two key points. First, that they're not prioritizing in-person instruction. And two, that the Superintendent doesn't really care what the BoE thinks, and isn't going to actively engage the Board with reopening decisions. Since the MCPS administration has already demonstrated they're beholden to the teachers with the ridiculous 45-day notice MOU, it seems quite likely that reopening won't happen unless an external force (namely, the BoE) puts pressure on the superintendent to do that. Letting the superintendent avoid that issue also indicates that the BoE is happy to be left out of that decision as well.

I agree. If they really cared about reopening, you'd see that be the main topic of every meeting, and every question of the superintendent focused on that.. Compared to zero talk of this and zero questions about it.