How come other states can make it work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^
adding on - and my handful of neighbors that are Cat B or SUPER early ESOL teachers and so went back in the fall tell plenty of stories from their own experience about how the "on paper" plans re: PPE and protocols are working out in the real world at their schools. And that's with a drop in the bucket of kids back.

The general Ed classes don’t need special PPE. Although I agree that the special ed teachers who need it should have as much as they need.

Yes i know that. But the point is that FCPS said that the Cat B teachers would get PPE as they need it to keep them safe. and that's a tiny % of teachers and kids - yet it's NOT reliably happening well. So if they can't get even that kind of stuff right, what gives people confidence they're going to get the other mitigation steps right as it scales up. (I'm not a teacher BTW.)

There really isn't that much to be provided. Extra masks? Extra hand sanitizer? The mitigation matters a whole lot less because the teachers will be vaccinated. Most of the cases being reported were staff getting infected in the community and bringing it into school, and infecting other staff. That whole transmission chain is broken by the vaccines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not just our area, 50% of the kids are in all distance learning, per reports on NPR. Everyone I know who has had kids in school either full time or through hybrid has had to quarantine at least once, many multiple times, because of positive cases in the classroom or enough positive cases in the school that entire school reverted to DL. I know families were the child has brought COVID home and the parents have been infected while the kid was asymptomatic.

My friends in private school in this area have all reverted to DL for periods of time, it hasn't been reported in the news but it is happening.

My friends who live in Georgia regularly report on their school districts having to go to DL because enough Teachers are sick or have been exposed that they can't keep the schools open.

I am sure that there are places where the kids are back in school for 5 days and have not reverted to DL but those are the minority of cases.

Yes, schools having to switch to virtual learning temporarily is foreseeable and still far preferable to just giving up, which is what FCPS did. FCPS went with the "no school" default. At least these other school systems are getting their kids some education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Dallas they are fully open and they're at 20%+ positivity. We're not in to actively killing people to prove how 'Murican we are.

Same in South Carolina, and positivity is 25%. Basically, they have no choice. People have to work in factories so either the kids will be home alone or in school with unchecked community spread. The death rate is a lot higher there too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They didn’t make it work. They accepted schools rotating constantly in and out of remote and in person, staff and students constantly quarantining, increased viral spread. Teachers have died, oh well. If you’re interesting, rent a house in Tennessee for 2nd semester and enroll your kids.

This. Happened in CO, OH, IN, CA, and other places.

[Anonymous]

Findings ways to get kids in school should be the default liberal position. That's why deblasio prioritized it and I have a lot of respect for him. In this country covid has become insanely politicized by the right and left to the point to the point where it is hurting children and families. There is a group of people, some of them on the school board, for whom return to school is impossible until covid is eliminated. Every news headline about a new variant, transmission with the vaccine, etc. will be a reason to keep schools closed. covid will be treated as a near certain lethal threat to everyone, including children and their 20/30-something parents. Guess what? covid will never be eliminated so we have to find a way to move forward other than sitting on hands. covid is not a one time event and we need to stop treating it that way. The current position is untenable. Scientists say once teachers are vaccinated students can return to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know families in PA, MA, Vermont, Alabama, AZ (as bad as Arizona has been!), VA, FL, and Minnesota who have had kids in school either five days a week, two full weeks on and two full weeks at home alternating, every other day alternating, etc etc since Fall. I know just one other family outside of our area whose kids have been out of school since March like us—they have a Hser in LA.

Heh. I'm in AZ. My kids had 5 days/week school until Thanksgiving, have been DL since, but also have a plan to return to in-person schooling in mid-February. Most of the teachers have already received their first doses of the vaccine. My brother's kids in the midwest have had 5 days/week school almost all year with only a brief 2 week quarantine for my nephew's kindergarten class. I'm so glad we moved away from FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They didn’t make it work. They accepted schools rotating constantly in and out of remote and in person, staff and students constantly quarantining, increased viral spread. Teachers have died, oh well. If you’re interesting, rent a house in Tennessee for 2nd semester and enroll your kids.

This. Happened in CO, OH, IN, CA, and other places.

Yes. With a virus with a 99.99% survival rate..some people still get sick and die. Teachers would have died whether they were working, or not. Grocery store clerks died. Nurses died. Postal workers died.

[Anonymous]

Politics. Always politics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And FCPS can’t. Is it the teachers?

It is just so upsetting that we are last to open and it isn’t just hybrid, it will be concurrent.

Same with Arlington. I think part of the problem is a county-based school system that is not really beholden to the parents in the way that town-based school systems are. the easier thing is to keep schools closed or reopen as hybrid/concurrent and that is what they will do if they don't really care about kids/parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you name one of these mythical states where things opened up and community spread didn’t get out of control? It would be easier to sort out why this this is happening with a specific example, but no one ever gives one.

How about the fourth largest district in the country? https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/11/us/miami-dade-schools-open-coronavirus-wellness/index.html

The most important thing they did is that they went out and found experts beyond those their backyard to guide them through this AND they stuck to those recommendations rather than allow fear and a vocal minority to drown out the science and planning. At this point, Brabrand is Charlie Brown, the school board is Lucy, and schools reopening are the football. It's painful to keep watching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And FCPS can’t. Is it the teachers?

It is just so upsetting that we are last to open and it isn’t just hybrid, it will be concurrent.

Why don't you just move to one of those states?

Same reason they don’t go private
Or homeschool

They can do any of these things. They don’t want solutions or other options. They want to stew in misery and victim hood like they’re the only people who have been affected by any of this.

What?! No. People have jobs here. Jobs that prevent them from moving and jobs that prevent them from homeschooling but jobs that don’t pay enough for private school. That is the very real situation the significant majority of people are in.

If you quit your job, your job can't prevent you from moving. Quit and move. If you cared, you would.

[Anonymous]

“ There really isn't that much to be provided. Extra masks? Extra hand sanitizer? The mitigation matters a whole lot less because the teachers will be vaccinated. Most of the cases being reported were staff getting infected in the community and bringing it into school, and infecting other staff. That whole transmission chain is broken by the vaccines.”

You’re missing the point entirely. The point is not apples to apples on PPE for Cat B vs regular kids needs.

It is that FCPS said it would do X for Cat B teachers (for instance) and did not follow through. So what inspires confidence that they will follow through on distancing, masks, etc etc when the crowd needing to adhere to it is SO much bigger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ There really isn't that much to be provided. Extra masks? Extra hand sanitizer? The mitigation matters a whole lot less because the teachers will be vaccinated. Most of the cases being reported were staff getting infected in the community and bringing it into school, and infecting other staff. That whole transmission chain is broken by the vaccines.”

You’re missing the point entirely. The point is not apples to apples on PPE for Cat B vs regular kids needs.

It is that FCPS said it would do X for Cat B teachers (for instance) and did not follow through. So what inspires confidence that they will follow through on distancing, masks, etc etc when the crowd needing to adhere to it is SO much bigger.

I guess we'll find out in March. I don't get all the catastrophizing. The teachers will be vaccinated.

[Anonymous]

My sister lives in CT. Schools have been open for hybrid since the fall. Of course, they've also been intermittently closed, re-opened, and closed again since fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Dallas they are fully open and they're at 20%+ positivity. We're not in to actively killing people to prove how 'Murican we are.

so you are traying to mock people by saying something completely ignorant and with no basis in fact? You realize you sounds just as bad as the people you are trying to mock? No, sadly you don't. And worse you probably say this crap out loud. Do you realize people mock you behind your back for say things likes this?