Smart Restart APS- ventilation studies

[Anonymous]

Smart Restart is a bunch of windbags who wildly overestimate their own data analysis capabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how they say they just want school to be safe for Hybrid kids, even though they are choosing virtual for their own kids. That would be fine, but then they also hound everyone in APE about sending their kids to private (inferring that therefore they can’t advocate for APS to open). Most of the private parents in APE seem to be doing so only because APS is closed!

Well I wonder if APE parents will bring their own kids back now or if they will stay in private. I'm guessing private and they will continue their mudslinging. First it was at the teachers and board members and now they are attacking this one poor parent because she cared enough to foia records on HVAC. God bless her.

Look I don't know if this woman is right or not because I can't follow the ventilation calculations. But I appreciate that she's trying to make is safer.

I just pulled my own kid out of hybrid because of indoor lunch. And I'm mad at APS for that. He wanted to go back. How APS thinks 100 kids eating in a cafeteria is ok a year into the pandemic. It's shameful. So no I don't think APS are the experts. lolololol that someone said that. Maybe this parent does know better after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. My money is on APS not having a clue on this. They were going to buy ionizers for god sake.

ozone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents FOIA’ing records from an overwhelmed school system in the middle of the crisis of the century because they’re so sure they know better than the school administrators is the perfect illustration of the entitlement of parents in this county.

entitlement to what? Irrational fear?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t get to publish “your improved data” and then refuse to share it for replication or examination.

This is insane that people are listening to her.

Having lots of numbers and visuals doesn’t make you right.

I agree 100%. I didn’t really have an opinion on it until I saw she refused to share her backup and calculations because she didn’t want people to poke holes in her argument. I cannot take her seriously after that. That’s not how any numbers based evaluation works.

That thread is a big yikes.

Serious smackdown from Frank Bellavia.

Now I need to go find this.

LOL. He *received* a smackdown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington parents FOIA’ing records from an overwhelmed school system in the middle of the crisis of the century because they’re so sure they know better than the school administrators is the perfect illustration of the entitlement of parents in this county.

SMART Restart is ridiculous - kids won't return for years under their demands.

[Anonymous]

What are you talking about? Return dates have been announced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world would anyone listen to the lgraphic designer’s analysis of FOIAed indoor air information? Who cares what she has to say about this topic? Before mean nurse jumps in to say “but we’re only trying to make conditions safer for all children,” I simply don’t want to hear any amateur’s take on the sufficiency of the number of air exchanges. That is not reasonable. She is not an expert on the transmissibility of COVID nor a virologist nor a construction expert who can speak to air exchanges in facilities. Her take on the information is with about as valuable as mine, which is to say, not very valuable. I’ll leave this to the experts who have training and education in the transmission of viruses, the CDC, who basically said “crack a window.”
If people do not feel comfortable with the publicized air flow at their child’s school, they are welcome to stay virtual. Go ahead and advocate, we are all entitled to that, but people need to stop acting like the graphic designer is entitled to any deference as an expert.

Totally agree.

The problem is she is capitalizing on people’s mistrust of APS, and, fear of Covid. So, much like a very recent former President whom we shall not name, people are just gobbling up what she says because of the two issues I note above.

While no one can control for Covid hysteria, APS should(and it appears they are a bit) really try to pump out some good, clear information and do some PR damage control to try and tame the insanity. It’s not a good look to have some random graphic designer parent earning trust more readily than your superintendent...

Well said - and I think those in smart restart will grab onto anything that makes APS seem unsafe. The herd is insanely fierce about obnoxious safety measures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love how they say they just want school to be safe for Hybrid kids, even though they are choosing virtual for their own kids. That would be fine, but then they also hound everyone in APE about sending their kids to private (inferring that therefore they can’t advocate for APS to open). Most of the private parents in APE seem to be doing so only because APS is closed!

Well I wonder if APE parents will bring their own kids back now or if they will stay in private. I'm guessing private and they will continue their mudslinging. First it was at the teachers and board members and now they are attacking this one poor parent because she cared enough to foia records on HVAC. God bless her.

Look I don't know if this woman is right or not because I can't follow the ventilation calculations. But I appreciate that she's trying to make is safer.

I just pulled my own kid out of hybrid because of indoor lunch. And I'm mad at APS for that. He wanted to go back. How APS thinks 100 kids eating in a cafeteria is ok a year into the pandemic. It's shameful. So no I don't think APS are the experts. lolololol that someone said that. Maybe this parent does know better after all.

I’m in a AEM and APE as a lurker. (I do think schools should open and I send emails, etc but I’m not one to be so public.). There are a few crazy posters in APE, but otherwise the accusations against them seem way overblown. I just don’t see the teacher bashing. They DO go after school board members, rightfully so. I haven’t seen any mention of smart restart other than addressing the substance of what they put out. I find AEM to be a significantly more toxic group. I also find myself checking APE first now to actually figure out what’s going on whenever we get a new school talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love how they say they just want school to be safe for Hybrid kids, even though they are choosing virtual for their own kids. That would be fine, but then they also hound everyone in APE about sending their kids to private (inferring that therefore they can’t advocate for APS to open). Most of the private parents in APE seem to be doing so only because APS is closed!

Well I wonder if APE parents will bring their own kids back now or if they will stay in private. I'm guessing private and they will continue their mudslinging. First it was at the teachers and board members and now they are attacking this one poor parent because she cared enough to foia records on HVAC. God bless her.

Look I don't know if this woman is right or not because I can't follow the ventilation calculations. But I appreciate that she's trying to make is safer.

I just pulled my own kid out of hybrid because of indoor lunch. And I'm mad at APS for that. He wanted to go back. How APS thinks 100 kids eating in a cafeteria is ok a year into the pandemic. It's shameful. So no I don't think APS are the experts. lolololol that someone said that. Maybe this parent does know better after all.

I’m in a AEM and APE as a lurker. (I do think schools should open and I send emails, etc but I’m not one to be so public.). There are a few crazy posters in APE, but otherwise the accusations against them seem way overblown. I just don’t see the teacher bashing. They DO go after school board members, rightfully so. I haven’t seen any mention of smart restart other than addressing the substance of what they put out. I find AEM to be a significantly more toxic group. I also find myself checking APE first now to actually figure out what’s going on whenever we get a new school talk.

I'm very similar. I found APE to actually be very supportive of teachers, and much more professional and considerate in their approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world would anyone listen to the lgraphic designer’s analysis of FOIAed indoor air information? Who cares what she has to say about this topic? Before mean nurse jumps in to say “but we’re only trying to make conditions safer for all children,” I simply don’t want to hear any amateur’s take on the sufficiency of the number of air exchanges. That is not reasonable. She is not an expert on the transmissibility of COVID nor a virologist nor a construction expert who can speak to air exchanges in facilities. Her take on the information is with about as valuable as mine, which is to say, not very valuable. I’ll leave this to the experts who have training and education in the transmission of viruses, the CDC, who basically said “crack a window.”
If people do not feel comfortable with the publicized air flow at their child’s school, they are welcome to stay virtual. Go ahead and advocate, we are all entitled to that, but people need to stop acting like the graphic designer is entitled to any deference as an expert.

Totally agree.

The problem is she is capitalizing on people’s mistrust of APS, and, fear of Covid. So, much like a very recent former President whom we shall not name, people are just gobbling up what she says because of the two issues I note above.

While no one can control for Covid hysteria, APS should(and it appears they are a bit) really try to pump out some good, clear information and do some PR damage control to try and tame the insanity. It’s not a good look to have some random graphic designer parent earning trust more readily than your superintendent...

Well said - and I think those in smart restart will grab onto anything that makes APS seem unsafe. The herd is insanely fierce about obnoxious safety measures.

They’ve been very consistent with their points. Basically everything that the experts have been saying - ventilation, testing, eating outdoors. Just the basics in a pandemic...

[Anonymous]

APS needed a push from both APE and Smart Restart.

APS would never reopen if they kept relying on how teachers "feel" about safety rather than actual data. The pressure from APE gave APS a necessary kick in the butt.

APS also had vastly underprepared for how they were going to keep kids safe. APS's temperature scans and hand washing are fine, but only help at the margins. Better ventilation and outdoor lunch materially reduce risk. Smart Restart is only off the deep end in that they think that perfect ventilation is necessary for reopening (and that they are off-puttingly zealous in how they present themselves). I appreciate that we'll now have good air filters in the classroom for reopening and I support the notion that we should keep working to improve ventilation for a full reopening in the fall.

I also strongly disagree with people on this thread that APS is now suddenly an expert in pandemic safety mitigation. APS is run by educators, not scientists. The CDC and other government guidelines were basically useless for most of the pandemic. There is also a significant proportion of APS administration who don't believe that kids catch and transmit Covid, and another portion who are more focused on social issues than getting kids an education. APS needed all of the help they could get, and probably more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS needed a push from both APE and Smart Restart.

APS would never reopen if they kept relying on how teachers "feel" about safety rather than actual data. The pressure from APE gave APS a necessary kick in the butt.

APS also had vastly underprepared for how they were going to keep kids safe. APS's temperature scans and hand washing are fine, but only help at the margins. Better ventilation and outdoor lunch materially reduce risk. Smart Restart is only off the deep end in that they think that perfect ventilation is necessary for reopening (and that they are off-puttingly zealous in how they present themselves). I appreciate that we'll now have good air filters in the classroom for reopening and I support the notion that we should keep working to improve ventilation for a full reopening in the fall.

I also strongly disagree with people on this thread that APS is now suddenly an expert in pandemic safety mitigation. APS is run by educators, not scientists. The CDC and other government guidelines were basically useless for most of the pandemic. There is also a significant proportion of APS administration who don't believe that kids catch and transmit Covid, and another portion who are more focused on social issues than getting kids an education. APS needed all of the help they could get, and probably more.

I posted previously and said CDC guidance on schools and ventilation should be followed, not APS’ feelings on the matter. APS has surely done a lot of things wrong since March 13th of last year, beginning with zero new content for the remainder of the school year and ending, well, I’ll let you know. But it’s not like the kindergarten teachers are performing the air flow analysis for APS. They have facilities people and per Bellavia’s AEM post, they hired a consultant to assist them with the analysis of current state ventilation and measure to be taken to improve the current state.
I’m not saying SMART restart doesn’t have some valid “would love to haves” on their list. I think a robust testing protocol would be awesome. However, on ventilation, I remain unconvinced that the ventilation demands, as advanced by a graphic designer, are wholly necessary to get back in the classroom where kids will be likely double masked all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needed a push from both APE and Smart Restart.

APS would never reopen if they kept relying on how teachers "feel" about safety rather than actual data. The pressure from APE gave APS a necessary kick in the butt.

APS also had vastly underprepared for how they were going to keep kids safe. APS's temperature scans and hand washing are fine, but only help at the margins. Better ventilation and outdoor lunch materially reduce risk. Smart Restart is only off the deep end in that they think that perfect ventilation is necessary for reopening (and that they are off-puttingly zealous in how they present themselves). I appreciate that we'll now have good air filters in the classroom for reopening and I support the notion that we should keep working to improve ventilation for a full reopening in the fall.

I also strongly disagree with people on this thread that APS is now suddenly an expert in pandemic safety mitigation. APS is run by educators, not scientists. The CDC and other government guidelines were basically useless for most of the pandemic. There is also a significant proportion of APS administration who don't believe that kids catch and transmit Covid, and another portion who are more focused on social issues than getting kids an education. APS needed all of the help they could get, and probably more.

I posted previously and said CDC guidance on schools and ventilation should be followed, not APS’ feelings on the matter. APS has surely done a lot of things wrong since March 13th of last year, beginning with zero new content for the remainder of the school year and ending, well, I’ll let you know. But it’s not like the kindergarten teachers are performing the air flow analysis for APS. They have facilities people and per Bellavia’s AEM post, they hired a consultant to assist them with the analysis of current state ventilation and measure to be taken to improve the current state.
I’m not saying SMART restart doesn’t have some valid “would love to haves” on their list. I think a robust testing protocol would be awesome. However, on ventilation, I remain unconvinced that the ventilation demands, as advanced by a graphic designer, are wholly necessary to get back in the classroom where kids will be likely double masked all day.

Where is it that she or Smart restart was saying it had to be done BEFORE schools could reopen? Obviously some of these schools have significant HVAC problems which are going to take time and money to fix. (And, btw, the graphic designer is also a former journalist who covered emergency preparedness and natural disasters and some scientific matters. She has never held herself out as an expert, but seems to be trying to cast light on a dearth of information provided by APS. By contrast, look at what Montgomery County has put out about air in its classrooms. Why can't APS do the same? https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/default.aspx?id=674571&fbclid=IwAR0q2RvhuX8cbrVqzTZni0boQIt84RX8FkLzZWyyEwzjIps5dR2IAT_Rxik)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS needed a push from both APE and Smart Restart.

APS would never reopen if they kept relying on how teachers "feel" about safety rather than actual data. The pressure from APE gave APS a necessary kick in the butt.

APS also had vastly underprepared for how they were going to keep kids safe. APS's temperature scans and hand washing are fine, but only help at the margins. Better ventilation and outdoor lunch materially reduce risk. Smart Restart is only off the deep end in that they think that perfect ventilation is necessary for reopening (and that they are off-puttingly zealous in how they present themselves). I appreciate that we'll now have good air filters in the classroom for reopening and I support the notion that we should keep working to improve ventilation for a full reopening in the fall.

I also strongly disagree with people on this thread that APS is now suddenly an expert in pandemic safety mitigation. APS is run by educators, not scientists. The CDC and other government guidelines were basically useless for most of the pandemic. There is also a significant proportion of APS administration who don't believe that kids catch and transmit Covid, and another portion who are more focused on social issues than getting kids an education. APS needed all of the help they could get, and probably more.

Careful now, you're about to bring reason into this conversation. But I couldn't agree more.