This is nuts. Have you actually met him and worked with him? I mean, you can question the decisions he is attempting to make on behalf of all the parents/kids/teachers, but I can't imagine anyone who's actually met him and worked with him thinking he cares about no one but himself and he's a narcissist. Having dealt with him, and the previous FCCPS superintendent, and another division's superintendent - trust me - be careful what you wish for. |
No. He’s out of touch with anything that actually happens in the classrooms. |
He claimed they did when he originally said the schools would be open in person in Fall 2020. But who knows to believe anymore with him. |
HOT OFF THE PRESS:
from one of the FCCPS Schools: "Dear Parents/Guardians, As we approach Monday and the ever-changing landscape, we want to reassure everyone that Oak Street Elementary School remains a welcoming, caring space for learning. Everyone here cares tremendously for each other in our Tiger community. To address everyone’s needs and keep everyone safe, we will be spreading out all students in our learning spaces, both masked and unmasked. No one will be singled out or spaced differently from others. We will welcome all students with open arms, just as always. We will remain a thoughtful, caring community. All students will be treated with the utmost respect and care, regardless of masking. Anything else is incongruent with our caring culture. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I do hope you all enjoy your weekend together with your families. " So someone must have threatened with a lawsuit.....Noonan must be having fun on his vacation.... |
DP. +1 for be careful what you wish for. Also, I noticed the teachers hate Noonan for pushing too hard to open last year, the parents hate Noonan for not pushing hard enough. It sounds like he's doing something right -- he's somewhere in the middle where both sides are unhappy. |
I don't know what you are thinking , but most are assuming Noonan least signed off on the infographic --well this is a public post so i will not label it with anything, however obviously it did not sit well with many considering the 180 and emails from the schools.....so maybe you think this is OK but even your neighbors FCC realized it is really out there, ans was rescinded. |
There is a big difference between being a "maniacal narcissist who should be out to pasture. He cares about no one but himself" and (premise accepted) bad infographic and a policy you and some others disagree with. What I find very frustrating is that there seems to be no recognition by the people who want to end the mask policy that other people disagree with them. Those other people include some of the teachers and staff, some of the parents, and some of the kids/teens. The schools' leadership is doing the best they can to balance all of these opinions. There isn't a clear cut answer. Would N95 masks make everyone in schools and the people they live with safer. Yes. But there are tradeoffs. So how do you decide how much risk is worth it? My answer may not be the same as your answer which may not be the same as the teacher's answer. Noonan and the board and the school principals are trying to balance everyone's needs. And let's not forget if teachers decide working in a maskless environment is not worth the risk (yes, I know some teachers want to lose the masks, but some really really don't) they'll just leave the job. You can say good riddance, but it is not easy hiring teachers these days. And that affects our kids. Anyway - I just wish everyone would calm down a bit and recognize the school leadership is trying to balance pro- and anti-mask mandate teachers, staff, parents, and kids/teens. It isn't like 100% of the community wants to lose the masks and they're just evil dictators thwarting the rest of us. |
I didn't call him any names as I don't do that online -there are multiple people posting here---but do stand behind the fact that it was very hurtful to see he wanted to have unmasked kids separated, and no my kids aren't even unmasking right now. I really worry about the mental health of our students, I think these traumas may not dispaly right away but they bring on lifelong ideas of alienation...I think as a superintendent he should have know that and found other creative ways to keep kids safe masked or unmasked. |
I would like an answer on a date or metrics to give us an idea of when staff can opt out. No one has yet. Other districts are starting to give staff choice and all do not want to continue masking. The pressure to keep masks on indefinitely is on us, too, because we are a caring community.
The email yesterday was the first time we heard about keeping students without masks 6 feet from others in the classroom. To answer the questions of others, no, we can’t do this. |
I agree with what you wrote in the sense that there are strongly held opinions on both sides. My big issue with Noonan is that he is so self righteous about everything. He doesn't appear to acknowledge that there are legitimate differences of opinion and there is room for reasoned debate. He sends emails and sets policies that appear to be intended to shame students and parents out of masks, then acts shocked that anyone would be concerned that their child would be treated poorly for choosing not to wear a mask b/c the teachers are the best and its such a caring culture. I agree with the second part- but he is creating an environment through his messaging that essentially says that 'masking' is the moral choice, and those that choose to unmask are creating a burden on the community. He acted this way about his ridiculous quarantine policy this fall too. He kept 14 day quarantines in place in order to pressure kids to get vaccinated- no matter that all fall kids under 12 couldn't be vaccinated and this policy had a huge adverse impact. He refused to acknowledge the science, and acted morally self righteous. He was rude and condescending to parents who expressed legitimate concerns about the quarantine policy, and the significant educational and emotional harm it was causing their kids, at exactly the same time that the school board was sending out emails telling the parents to treat staff better. The problem on this one starts from the top. |
I would also like to see staff choice. how can parents help with this? |
My read is that Noonan or whoever leads fccps does not want any unmasked and/or unvaxxed kids but due to VA laws fccps cannot exclude them from on site school so shaming techniques are used to tear apart kids self esteem, sense of belonging and basically social life.
Am I wrong? I'm open to criticism here..... |
Kids are 3-6 feet from each other already. I think a mountain was made out of the molehill of simply saying - we will give kids with no masks more space than the masked kids. |
If you think they are currently 3-6 feet, you have not been inside a school during the day. They are not. |
Until the CDC quarantining guidelines change, having masked and unmasked kids together creates complications. He's getting plenty of push back from parents with masked kids not wanting to deal with the impact to their masked kids of others choosing to unmask. Increasing the spacing makes a difference under the guidelines. I'm skeptical that they can really space everyone 6 feet -- if that was easily done, we would not have done half days when we returned to in person last year.
As our number continue to improve, I do wish that we would move forward by calibrating mitigation with the level of present risk and be flexible about dialing up and down as circumstances change. But everyone has become entrenched in a a black and white approach. |