The amount of lost instruction time due to start of Hybrid and Concurrent

[Anonymous]

It’s one more day. NBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:My family still lives in upstate NY where I am from. They opened for hybrid instruction at the beginning of the school year in September and have stayed open this whole time even though their #s resemble ours. I don't know why we are so behind here in VA. There are successful models for them to follow, they don't need to reinvent the wheel.

Is this in the rural part of upstate NY?

What are the capacity numbers for those schools? How many 100s of extra kids are crammed into each school building?

What % of families have health insurance and PTO for work?

Circumstances might be a wee bit different here in Arlington.

NP here - I doubt it. I have a friend in Stamford Ct with a high school the same size as APS high schools. They've been hybrid all school year. Continued sports as well.

Different poster here. I have family in the Atlanta area. Not rural, definitely not a small school system. They have been in person (for those who chose it), 4 days a week, since October. No outbreaks of Covid. A few cases, but not in school transmission. It’s a big, urban school system. The Covid rates are/were definitely not lower than here. It’s working. What’s the excuse now?

Same size - or the same extent overcapacity?

According to my friend very similar to here.

Your friend is wrong. They are UNDERcapacity.

Page 39.
https://www.stamfordpublicschools.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif3841/f/uploads/7940_stamford_ps_demographics_-_finalv2_jc_050217.pdf

Not comparable. Their middle schools are 56% capacity - no need to even do hybrid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Different poster here. I have family in the Atlanta area. Not rural, definitely not a small school system. They have been in person (for those who chose it), 4 days a week, since October. No outbreaks of Covid. A few cases, but not in school transmission. It’s a big, urban school system. The Covid rates are/were definitely not lower than here. It’s working. What’s the excuse now?

I literally just hung up the phone with a colleague in Atlanta whose son tested positive after being exposed to the kid sitting next to him at school. Covid is everywhere down there and by his account it isn't taken seriously. His son has covid and they've already told him the other two kids can come back to school on Monday, less than a week after their brother was diagnosed. Community and school transmission are the same thing when everyone is unmasked and interacting indoors and out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Different poster here. I have family in the Atlanta area. Not rural, definitely not a small school system. They have been in person (for those who chose it), 4 days a week, since October. No outbreaks of Covid. A few cases, but not in school transmission. It’s a big, urban school system. The Covid rates are/were definitely not lower than here. It’s working. What’s the excuse now?

I literally just hung up the phone with a colleague in Atlanta whose son tested positive after being exposed to the kid sitting next to him at school. Covid is everywhere down there and by his account it isn't taken seriously. His son has covid and they've already told him the other two kids can come back to school on Monday, less than a week after their brother was diagnosed. Community and school transmission are the same thing when everyone is unmasked and interacting indoors and out.

Yes, and unless they are doing surveillance testing and tracing at the school there is no way to know about the transmission at school.

Which school system in the Atlanta "area"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Different poster here. I have family in the Atlanta area. Not rural, definitely not a small school system. They have been in person (for those who chose it), 4 days a week, since October. No outbreaks of Covid. A few cases, but not in school transmission. It’s a big, urban school system. The Covid rates are/were definitely not lower than here. It’s working. What’s the excuse now?

I literally just hung up the phone with a colleague in Atlanta whose son tested positive after being exposed to the kid sitting next to him at school. Covid is everywhere down there and by his account it isn't taken seriously. His son has covid and they've already told him the other two kids can come back to school on Monday, less than a week after their brother was diagnosed. Community and school transmission are the same thing when everyone is unmasked and interacting indoors and out.

Good thing APS is requiring masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is literally beyond mind boggling that we are at this point.

APS has a budget surplus. Meanwhile our family has spent excess of what we ever did on daycare alone to try and support childcare and supplemental tutoring for our first grader.

APS can't get a decent app or tracking mechanism together to reach out to families going in person five days a week. Instead, contacting EVERY family seven days a week at 5:30. This is 2021, who the bleep are they consulting and contracting with that is setting things up this way.

The COVID metrics right now mirror what they were in the fall, so, this only goes to show that we could have/should have been open since the fall, but, APS just negligently passed the buck and only acted when forced to. They denied our children their right to a free and appropriate public education.

I am so beyond fed up and frustrated and disillusioned. It is so deeply unfortunate that all of the private schools are full and have waitlists.

Ugh. COVID is coming down but still not like the “fall” unless you consider post Halloween rise. It’s getting there but has a ways to go before rates mirror September and October of last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Different poster here. I have family in the Atlanta area. Not rural, definitely not a small school system. They have been in person (for those who chose it), 4 days a week, since October. No outbreaks of Covid. A few cases, but not in school transmission. It’s a big, urban school system. The Covid rates are/were definitely not lower than here. It’s working. What’s the excuse now?

I literally just hung up the phone with a colleague in Atlanta whose son tested positive after being exposed to the kid sitting next to him at school. Covid is everywhere down there and by his account it isn't taken seriously. His son has covid and they've already told him the other two kids can come back to school on Monday, less than a week after their brother was diagnosed. Community and school transmission are the same thing when everyone is unmasked and interacting indoors and out.

Good thing APS is requiring masks.

You can't compare APS to areas of the country where nobody is wearing masks and everybody is denying COVID exists. Culturally, Arlington is more similar to New England, where public schools have safely reopened with the right safety protocols in place and very few positive cases tied to the schools. This year has already been a waste from an instructional perspective. I am glad they are reopening hybrid now so that maybe it sets us up for 5 days a week next fall. The achievement gap will only grow wider until all students are back full-time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think APS needs to get hybrid running this year so they can work out the kinks for next fall. There is a good chance that schools may need to be hybrid in the fall and I don't want APS to wait to sort out how to reopen. We can't keep kicking the can on educating kids, like APS chose to last spring and even much of this year.

For my 7 yo, most of the year is already lost. She doesn't learn well via DL. Last spring APS didn't even try, so she lost more than a quarter of last year too. I don't want her to her to have a third school year that is critically disrupted by APS not having its act together to educate students.

Next Fall should be 5-full days. Enough of this hybrid crap

[Anonymous]

I’m a teacher. I appreciate the thought, but really could’ve used a prep day this week. Next Friday is too late. No way I’m leaving the things that stress me out the most (especially the tech set up) to the very last day. I’d have rather had the day after Easter as a workday. I was planning on it. Now, I will have to plan over Spring Break to live teach on Monday.

[Anonymous]

Monday should be the training day. It's ridiculous and unfair the the students with block schedules to keep canceling Fridays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher. I appreciate the thought, but really could’ve used a prep day this week. Next Friday is too late. No way I’m leaving the things that stress me out the most (especially the tech set up) to the very last day. I’d have rather had the day after Easter as a workday. I was planning on it. Now, I will have to plan over Spring Break to live teach on Monday.

I think parents and teacher likely agree that Easter Monday was not a great choice for the only synchronous Monday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher. I appreciate the thought, but really could’ve used a prep day this week. Next Friday is too late. No way I’m leaving the things that stress me out the most (especially the tech set up) to the very last day. I’d have rather had the day after Easter as a workday. I was planning on it. Now, I will have to plan over Spring Break to live teach on Monday.

I think parents and teacher likely agree that Easter Monday was not a great choice for the only synchronous Monday.

Eh. Not the Jewish, Muslim or Hindi parents. We’re fine with it. But looking forward to getting some of our holidays off next school year!

[Anonymous]

Wait. Are all elementary and middle school kids out tomorrow?

Not worried about it, but confused. I think it’s all the kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait. Are all elementary and middle school kids out tomorrow?

Not worried about it, but confused. I think it’s all the kids?

This Friday and next?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait. Are all elementary and middle school kids out tomorrow?

Not worried about it, but confused. I think it’s all the kids?

Yes. All ES and MS kids out tomorrow (parent teacher conferences). Don’t see next week on the calendar.