We are NEVER going back until covid is 100% gone - MCPS has no leadership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

Well the flip side of that is that all of the local districts have cover to continue this indefinitely. Is anyone making a move to open?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get why people keep saying MCPS doesn’t have a plan.

Did I just dream that they released a document outlining the hybrid schedules for each level, bus seating charts, and a timeline for phasing in the different grades, starting at the beginning of the 3rd quarter?

Isn’t that a plan?

Link please? I didn't see that.

Does it include metrics for what level makes it OK to reopen too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

Well the flip side of that is that all of the local districts have cover to continue this indefinitely. Is anyone making a move to open?

Yes. Howard, Anne Arundel, Washington, Allegany, Baltimore, Garrett, and Hartford counties all have plans and some have even started reopening, while others will have kids in school in the next few weeks.

[Anonymous]

How would you propose they make it safe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get why people keep saying MCPS doesn’t have a plan.

Did I just dream that they released a document outlining the hybrid schedules for each level, bus seating charts, and a timeline for phasing in the different grades, starting at the beginning of the 3rd quarter?

Isn’t that a plan?

Link please? I didn't see that.

Does it include metrics for what level makes it OK to reopen too?

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/reopening/MCPSDraftRecoveryPlan-updated.pdf#page32

On p. 32, it says they’ll begin implementing this “blended learning” plan on Feb. 1, 2021, pending clearance by state and local officials. No metrics on what would be considered safe, but from what I gather, that isn’t up to MCPS anyway.

As I read it, MCPS developed the plan (whether it’s a good one is certainly debatable, but it exists), but they still need clearance from—at this point, now that Hogan’s given the OK—Elrich and Gayles. I sort of assumed that they’d stick with this planned timeline, and try to get clearance to implement it from the county at reevaluation in November.

It really never occurred to me that they’d do anything much different from what’s in this document, which is why I’m always puzzled when I hear people screaming about MCPS having “no plan whatsoever.” They do—whether it’s one you agree with or not—but they need permission from the county to implement it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

Well the flip side of that is that all of the local districts have cover to continue this indefinitely. Is anyone making a move to open?

Yes. Howard, Anne Arundel, Washington, Allegany, Baltimore, Garrett, and Hartford counties all have plans and some have even started reopening, while others will have kids in school in the next few weeks.

Right- but DC and the other immediate suburban districts have not.

[Anonymous]

MCPS has a plan. Stop with the hysterics.

We have one problem it's Trump get rid of him and we start to heal. Keep him and school will not matter. No vaccine will come out under him ever and who would take it anyway.

After the election the number of families that will now long have health insurance is more than huge. The number of families that will have no income only getting worse. All those factors and you people think we should head back to school?

Of course we all want kids back in school. Not happening.

Bottom line is our educational system sucks because about 38% of the country still supports the Gas lighting super spreader Don the Con.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

Well the flip side of that is that all of the local districts have cover to continue this indefinitely. Is anyone making a move to open?

Yes. Howard, Anne Arundel, Washington, Allegany, Baltimore, Garrett, and Hartford counties all have plans and some have even started reopening, while others will have kids in school in the next few weeks.

'

Actually, Howard does not have a specific plan at this point. They are working on one, but the only plan that has been discussed involves bringing some students into the school buildings to receive DL services under supervision of a non-teacher (not sure who).

Anne Arundel has presented a plan, but the teachers and the Board might not approve it.

https://www.capitalgazette.com/education/ac-cn-anne-arundel-county-schools-reopening-plan-20201006-wlvkmd2rx5gwxkwdznvksyglve-story.html

Baltimore County was going to return some students to school in November, but as of today, no health and safety plan has been submitted to the county, which jeopardizes reopening.

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/bcps-return-to-school-in-jeopardy-no-safety-plan-submitted-to-county

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has a plan. Stop with the hysterics.

We have one problem it's Trump get rid of him and we start to heal. Keep him and school will not matter. No vaccine will come out under him ever and who would take it anyway.

After the election the number of families that will now long have health insurance is more than huge. The number of families that will have no income only getting worse. All those factors and you people think we should head back to school?

Of course we all want kids back in school. Not happening.

Bottom line is our educational system sucks because about 38% of the country still supports the Gas lighting super spreader Don the Con.

Even under new leadership, depending on how strong/good they are it may or may not get better. Trump has little to do with the vaccine. Be real and stop blaming him for things like that. If anything he's pushing to get them out. I wouldn't take a new vaccine regardless of who is in the white house. And, its going to take a while to get it to everyone given medical and other people would/should get it first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

Well the flip side of that is that all of the local districts have cover to continue this indefinitely. Is anyone making a move to open?

MCPS is much larger and most schools are over capacity. It makes sense for smaller districts to open first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to article in Bethesda Beat, MCPS hasn't even started planning for returning to school. Since March, they have not made any effort to make schools safe.

MCPS NEVER had an intention to bring kids back. it's just too hard so we aren't going to do it.
Smith makes 300k with the sweetest benefits packet. We have hundreds of overpaid staff in central office. And none of them have the leadership skills to get the kids back in school.

Other districts here in the US and in other countries are moving forward. They have real leaders who aren't going to let the desires and special requests from each individual in the district stop them from meeting the educational needs of the larger population of kids.

They know how this is affecting kids mentally, they just hired more counselors!! They know that a lot of teachers are realizing this isn't working, parents realize this isn't working. And I am not talking the small percentage of kids who are doing ok with DL, I am talking of the majority of kids. But they still haven't started outlining the plan for return.

How hard is it to make few calls to other superintendents to get some guidance since no one has any clue what to do?
Secure PPE, set up schools/classrooms with social distance desks with partitions, set out sanitizer stations throughout school, survey parents to find out who will be returning and who needs bus transportation, require masks and handwashing breaks (make these MANDATORY), work with building services to sanitize high touch areas, set up isolation room, involve school nurse, establish DL program for those who can't abide by rules and don't want to come into the school. Select DL teachers and assign kids to them from the entire county population.. A kid might not get a teacher from their school, but we all must make sacrifices.
Unless you ask parents what option they want, you can't really plan, and they haven't even done that.

There are so many staff who aren't working, but getting paid...assign jobs to them, there is plenty for everyone to do.

At the end of the day, you will not please anyone, but you will have attempted to do what you are supposed to do...educate the kids.

If we all have to make sacrifices, we should stick with the current system, which at least requires the same sacrifice of everyone. All kids are doing DL. All teachers are doing DL. Once we start shifting some students at week 10 to teachers they have not started to build a relationship with, it creates a second first two weeks of school. My daughter has a great relationship with her AP teacher. We also had to share some sensitive info about a foster son with several teachers who now understand that he is so eager to not be trouble that he will suffer in all kind of silence rather than ask for help. All know to really check in on him even if he gives the thumbs up in Zoom in response to a generally query.

The only ones making sacrifices are the parents and above all the kids. The teachers wanted this and continue to want it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

Well the flip side of that is that all of the local districts have cover to continue this indefinitely. Is anyone making a move to open?

MCPS is much larger and most schools are over capacity. It makes sense for smaller districts to open first.

PG and Fairfax and similarly sized and seem similarly paralyzed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At one of the back-to-school town halls last month, I heard our assistant principal (of a Bethesda-area high school) basically say that we won't be back in person during 2020-2021.

That should come as a surprise to no one.

DP- my concern is that if a vaccine isn’t available next summer, we may not even go back next year. There’s just so much inertia and paralysis, the lack of leadership is really stunning.

PP, to make you feel better:

MCPS WILL DO WHAT THE OTHER DISTRICTS DO.

They won't be the only one to be closed when everyone else is open. They won't be the only one to be open when everyone else is closed. All of the districts in the area are going to more-or-less do what all of the other districts in the area are doing.

Well the flip side of that is that all of the local districts have cover to continue this indefinitely. Is anyone making a move to open?

MCPS is much larger and most schools are over capacity. It makes sense for smaller districts to open first.

PG and Fairfax and similarly sized and seem similarly paralyzed.

And you certainly don't want them to emulate the farcical plan DCPS just put out...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to article in Bethesda Beat, MCPS hasn't even started planning for returning to school. Since March, they have not made any effort to make schools safe.

MCPS NEVER had an intention to bring kids back. it's just too hard so we aren't going to do it.
Smith makes 300k with the sweetest benefits packet. We have hundreds of overpaid staff in central office. And none of them have the leadership skills to get the kids back in school.

Other districts here in the US and in other countries are moving forward. They have real leaders who aren't going to let the desires and special requests from each individual in the district stop them from meeting the educational needs of the larger population of kids.

They know how this is affecting kids mentally, they just hired more counselors!! They know that a lot of teachers are realizing this isn't working, parents realize this isn't working. And I am not talking the small percentage of kids who are doing ok with DL, I am talking of the majority of kids. But they still haven't started outlining the plan for return.

How hard is it to make few calls to other superintendents to get some guidance since no one has any clue what to do?
Secure PPE, set up schools/classrooms with social distance desks with partitions, set out sanitizer stations throughout school, survey parents to find out who will be returning and who needs bus transportation, require masks and handwashing breaks (make these MANDATORY), work with building services to sanitize high touch areas, set up isolation room, involve school nurse, establish DL program for those who can't abide by rules and don't want to come into the school. Select DL teachers and assign kids to them from the entire county population.. A kid might not get a teacher from their school, but we all must make sacrifices.
Unless you ask parents what option they want, you can't really plan, and they haven't even done that.

There are so many staff who aren't working, but getting paid...assign jobs to them, there is plenty for everyone to do.

At the end of the day, you will not please anyone, but you will have attempted to do what you are supposed to do...educate the kids.

If we all have to make sacrifices, we should stick with the current system, which at least requires the same sacrifice of everyone. All kids are doing DL. All teachers are doing DL. Once we start shifting some students at week 10 to teachers they have not started to build a relationship with, it creates a second first two weeks of school. My daughter has a great relationship with her AP teacher. We also had to share some sensitive info about a foster son with several teachers who now understand that he is so eager to not be trouble that he will suffer in all kind of silence rather than ask for help. All know to really check in on him even if he gives the thumbs up in Zoom in response to a generally query.

The only ones making sacrifices are the parents and above all the kids. The teachers wanted this and continue to want it.

It always amazes how y'all think each and every one of the 13,000 teachers in MCPS are just part of a monolithic bloc of "the teachers".

(Ducking. Covering. Waiting for the vitriol.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to article in Bethesda Beat, MCPS hasn't even started planning for returning to school. Since March, they have not made any effort to make schools safe.

MCPS NEVER had an intention to bring kids back. it's just too hard so we aren't going to do it.
Smith makes 300k with the sweetest benefits packet. We have hundreds of overpaid staff in central office. And none of them have the leadership skills to get the kids back in school.

Other districts here in the US and in other countries are moving forward. They have real leaders who aren't going to let the desires and special requests from each individual in the district stop them from meeting the educational needs of the larger population of kids.

They know how this is affecting kids mentally, they just hired more counselors!! They know that a lot of teachers are realizing this isn't working, parents realize this isn't working. And I am not talking the small percentage of kids who are doing ok with DL, I am talking of the majority of kids. But they still haven't started outlining the plan for return.

How hard is it to make few calls to other superintendents to get some guidance since no one has any clue what to do?
Secure PPE, set up schools/classrooms with social distance desks with partitions, set out sanitizer stations throughout school, survey parents to find out who will be returning and who needs bus transportation, require masks and handwashing breaks (make these MANDATORY), work with building services to sanitize high touch areas, set up isolation room, involve school nurse, establish DL program for those who can't abide by rules and don't want to come into the school. Select DL teachers and assign kids to them from the entire county population.. A kid might not get a teacher from their school, but we all must make sacrifices.
Unless you ask parents what option they want, you can't really plan, and they haven't even done that.

There are so many staff who aren't working, but getting paid...assign jobs to them, there is plenty for everyone to do.

At the end of the day, you will not please anyone, but you will have attempted to do what you are supposed to do...educate the kids.

If we all have to make sacrifices, we should stick with the current system, which at least requires the same sacrifice of everyone. All kids are doing DL. All teachers are doing DL. Once we start shifting some students at week 10 to teachers they have not started to build a relationship with, it creates a second first two weeks of school. My daughter has a great relationship with her AP teacher. We also had to share some sensitive info about a foster son with several teachers who now understand that he is so eager to not be trouble that he will suffer in all kind of silence rather than ask for help. All know to really check in on him even if he gives the thumbs up in Zoom in response to a generally query.

The only ones making sacrifices are the parents and above all the kids. The teachers wanted this and continue to want it.

It always amazes how y'all think each and every one of the 13,000 teachers in MCPS are just part of a monolithic bloc of "the teachers".

(Ducking. Covering. Waiting for the vitriol.)

PP here. You are right, and I apologize to the teachers who do want to go back for generalizing. It would be nice though if you guys would advocate more loudly for returning in person. If there is a sizable contingent of teachers who want to go back, administrators and the union should hear from them.