Should we prepare for virtual schooling starting in January?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish we had somewhat better contract tracing to determine if teachers are getting sick at school. Masking does seem effective at controlling spread so those sick teachers may be catching it at home from their kids or elsewhere in the community. If that’s the case, closing schools won’t help much with the teacher absence problem.

I am not an advocate of long term closures, but I do think delaying the start until there’s whole school testing makes sense, but a significant portion of teachers who are out due to covid are asymptomatic, or mildly sick, or staying home with a child who has covid. Many of them would be able to teach from home and would much rather do that than burn leave. So yes, regardless of where the teachers get it closing school does help with the shortage problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Sure, make teachers put together virtual plans over the holiday. Then trust that the schools will actually re-open instead of saying, "how about two more weeks and we re-assess?...how about Spring?...at this point, why don't we just start talking about Fall 2022?"

We *are* in a pandemic. Most professionals are still virtual. You want teachers to die. There will be no subs. Why don't you volunteer as a parent. Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are. Parents just want daycare. We will catch them up in the fall. Everyone is in the same boat. No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.

Did I miss any of the memes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Here's how you keep schools open: don't close them.

And, how do you address the staffing issues when vaccinated staff are testing positive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Sure, make teachers put together virtual plans over the holiday. Then trust that the schools will actually re-open instead of saying, "how about two more weeks and we re-assess?...how about Spring?...at this point, why don't we just start talking about Fall 2022?"

Stop ! This could easily happen but it would be disastrous for kids especially current 2nd graders who haven’t had a full year of schooling at all since they were in Kindergarten. This makes me so sad for our kids.

Kids will be fine. Get mental health treatment if having your kids home makes you sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Sure, make teachers put together virtual plans over the holiday. Then trust that the schools will actually re-open instead of saying, "how about two more weeks and we re-assess?...how about Spring?...at this point, why don't we just start talking about Fall 2022?"

We *are* in a pandemic. Most professionals are still virtual. You want teachers to die. There will be no subs. Why don't you volunteer as a parent. Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are. Parents just want daycare. We will catch them up in the fall. Everyone is in the same boat. No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.

Did I miss any of the memes?

I think you got most of them. We could just make it a checklist to make it easier to whine.

[ ] We *are* in a pandemic.
[ ] Most professionals are still virtual.
[ ] You want teachers to die.
[ ] There will be no subs.
[ ] Why don't you volunteer as a parent.
[ ] Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are.
[ ] Parents just want daycare.
[ ] We will catch them up in the fall.
[ ] Everyone is in the same boat.
[ ] No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.
[ ] My kid thrived in virtual: you are just a loser parent.
[ ] You don't want to be inconvenienced.

Other: If you would just stop [insert activity], the pandemic would be over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Sure, make teachers put together virtual plans over the holiday. Then trust that the schools will actually re-open instead of saying, "how about two more weeks and we re-assess?...how about Spring?...at this point, why don't we just start talking about Fall 2022?"

We *are* in a pandemic. Most professionals are still virtual. You want teachers to die. There will be no subs. Why don't you volunteer as a parent. Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are. Parents just want daycare. We will catch them up in the fall. Everyone is in the same boat. No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.

Did I miss any of the memes?

I think you got most of them. We could just make it a checklist to make it easier to whine.

[ ] We *are* in a pandemic.
[ ] Most professionals are still virtual.
[ ] You want teachers to die.
[ ] There will be no subs.
[ ] Why don't you volunteer as a parent.
[ ] Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are.
[ ] Parents just want daycare.
[ ] We will catch them up in the fall.
[ ] Everyone is in the same boat.
[ ] No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.
[ ] My kid thrived in virtual: you are just a loser parent.
[ ] You don't want to be inconvenienced.

Other: If you would just stop [insert activity], the pandemic would be over.

Didn't see that a cliché whine immediately got added. Updated to reflect.

[ ] We *are* in a pandemic.
[ ] Most professionals are still virtual.
[ ] You want teachers to die.
[ ] There will be no subs.
[ ] Why don't you volunteer as a parent.
[ ] Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are.
[ ] Parents just want daycare.
[ ] We will catch them up in the fall.
[ ] Everyone is in the same boat.
[ ] No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.
[ ] My kid thrived in virtual: you are just a loser parent.
[ ] You don't want to be inconvenienced.
[ ] Kids will be fine. Get mental health treatment if having your kids home makes you sad.

Other: If you would just stop [insert activity], the pandemic would be over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Kids will be fine. Get mental health treatment if having your kids home makes you sad.

?????????????????????????? the kids are not fine

[Anonymous]

I honestly don't know how its feasible to go virtual after the holiday - can they pivot that quickly? I have no idea how PG is doing it. Does MCPS even have contingency plans? I think it would be a disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Didn't see that a cliché whine immediately got added. Updated to reflect.

[ ] We *are* in a pandemic.
[ ] Most professionals are still virtual.
[ ] You want teachers to die.
[ ] There will be no subs.
[ ] Why don't you volunteer as a parent.
[ ] Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are.
[ ] Parents just want daycare.
[ ] We will catch them up in the fall.
[ ] Everyone is in the same boat.
[ ] No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.
[ ] My kid thrived in virtual: you are just a loser parent.
[ ] You don't want to be inconvenienced.
[ ] Kids will be fine. Get mental health treatment if having your kids home makes you sad.

Other: If you would just stop [insert activity], the pandemic would be over.

This is great, but please add

[ ] The vaccines are ineffective and won't stop [variant].
[ ] Vaccine requirements violate my personal liberty and my right to make decisions for my children.

[Anonymous]

My DDs’ ES sent a note out over the weekend asking parents to voluntarily keep kids home from school this week due to Covid spikes at the school. I hate to say it because my kids did suffer with virtual school but I think we’ll see it come back in January. At least until the current wave subsides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Here's how you keep schools open: don't close them.

And, how do you address the staffing issues when vaccinated staff are testing positive.

There should have been an emergency pay raise for substitute teachers. The school board failed

Our school has developed a plan to have schools combine classes and meet instead gym or media center , it would combine 2 or more classes (so 60, 90. 120 kids together) college lecture style. The work would be done independently on a chromebook by the student but technically meets the "in person" learning requirement.

I want everyone who reads this to understand that this model will become a future standard of learning in our schools. We are allowing it now when other solutions serve students better, it will not go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know how its feasible to go virtual after the holiday - can they pivot that quickly? I have no idea how PG is doing it. Does MCPS even have contingency plans? I think it would be a disaster.

Not just that. Parents would have to pivot as well. Where is their leave and childcare coming from at the very last minute?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Here's how you keep schools open: don't close them.

And, how do you address the staffing issues when vaccinated staff are testing positive.

I don't care, but we MUST stay open no matter the cost! It's really inconvenient to miss pilates because I don't have child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is spreading like crazy right now. Going virtual for a few weeks may be essential after holiday travel. Vaccines are not working very well against omicron. Schools are already stretched too thin. No substitute in their right mind will work at schools this winter. This sucks but we need to soldier on.

I was skeptical at first, but PG might have the right idea.
Keep schools empty until 2 weeks post-holiday travel and get-togethers.

Assuming they actually go back after MLK, that is.

Here's how you keep schools open: don't close them.

And, how do you address the staffing issues when vaccinated staff are testing positive.

There should have been an emergency pay raise for substitute teachers. The school board failed

Our school has developed a plan to have schools combine classes and meet instead gym or media center , it would combine 2 or more classes (so 60, 90. 120 kids together) college lecture style. The work would be done independently on a chromebook by the student but technically meets the "in person" learning requirement.

I want everyone who reads this to understand that this model will become a future standard of learning in our schools. We are allowing it now when other solutions serve students better, it will not go away.

And if they had done that you'd have been screaming bloody murder about the cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think you got most of them. We could just make it a checklist to make it easier to whine.

[ ] We *are* in a pandemic.
[ ] Most professionals are still virtual.
[ ] You want teachers to die.
[ ] There will be no subs.
[ ] Why don't you volunteer as a parent.
[ ] Schools *arent* closed, the buildings are.
[ ] Parents just want daycare.
[ ] We will catch them up in the fall.
[ ] Everyone is in the same boat.
[ ] No one is ahead or behind. Kids are resilient.
[ ] My kid thrived in virtual: you are just a loser parent.
[ ] You don't want to be inconvenienced.

Other: If you would just stop [insert activity], the pandemic would be over.

Best post ever!