What do we think will happen on Monday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any possible way to pivot to virtual or do kids just stay home with no education until we can all figure out how to get them back to school? I guess PWCS has hinted at virtual, not sure about other districts. What is different between them and us that they can stand up virtual and we can't? I know people don't like it, but it's better than nothing for days on end. My kids bring their laptops home to charge, but I know it's not consistent across schools. Seems like they could have had kids bring home devices just in case knowing that the storm was coming and likely to be pretty disruptive. The inability to do virtual may be what gets FCPS to open sooner than other districts that have apparently figured out how to implement it.

I don’t think it’s possible to do true virtual, synchronous instruction at this point. Maybe some asynchronous work could be posted, but I don’t know how worthwhile that would be, particularly at the lowest grade levels. Our ES didn’t send home laptops. Even if students had their laptops, teachers aren’t prepared to do it. Some have never had to teach that way.

How can other districts figure it out? I can’t imagine PWCS teachers have different training and experience. The basics of virtual instruction are not rocket science and should probably be part of teacher training (during grad school) at this point.

They very well could have received different training. If they have had plans to go virtual in situations like this then they probably have been told what to do. They probably sent the students’ school devices home with them. We haven’t done virtual instruction since when, 2021? Any new teacher hired since then hasn’t done it and rarely uses Zoom. I teach in an ES and my spouse in a MS. There has been no training expectations given for online instruction. Most elementary students haven’t done online instruction.

I rarely use Zoom and am not very comfortable with it, but push comes to shove, I could figure it out in 20 minutes. It's just a dumb app. I would be happy to teach virtually since my AP classes are falling behind schedule, but mention virtual and a bunch of nut jobs will come out of the woodwork and say that's worthless. Guess what? Your high schooler who isn't engaging virtually is not engaging in the classroom either--they're busy watching sports or worse on their laptop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

Have you tried, recently? I am a 40 year old reasonably fit woman and was not able to break the ice even with a metal shovel. I could probably work at it all day and get a few feet done.

Getting rid of all the ice on sidewalks isn’t reasonable at this point. It won’t happen. Better to start mobilizing carpools and shared watching of kids, trading bus stop monitoring duties, etc. We are sharing drop off/pick up with another family this week. We will reevaluate next week.

I am a 50-year-old woman who shoveled at least 30 feet of sidewalk between 11am and 4pm today. I shoveled, then took a break, shoveled more, then took a break, and so on. I used metal gardening shovels to break up the sheets of ice. It was completely doable.

If people had shoveled sidewalks on Sunday and Monday, it wouldnt be nearly as difficult as it is now. But people were too self-absorbed to think about their neighbors.

We did shovel on Sunday but now it is impossible to break through the snowcrete without something better than my plastic shovel. I don’t have any gardening tools. It’s supposed to get above freezing on I think Tuesday so maybe that will be an opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

Zsnowmagedden

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

Have you tried, recently? I am a 40 year old reasonably fit woman and was not able to break the ice even with a metal shovel. I could probably work at it all day and get a few feet done.

Getting rid of all the ice on sidewalks isn’t reasonable at this point. It won’t happen. Better to start mobilizing carpools and shared watching of kids, trading bus stop monitoring duties, etc. We are sharing drop off/pick up with another family this week. We will reevaluate next week.

I am a 50-year-old woman who shoveled at least 30 feet of sidewalk between 11am and 4pm today. I shoveled, then took a break, shoveled more, then took a break, and so on. I used metal gardening shovels to break up the sheets of ice. It was completely doable.

If people had shoveled sidewalks on Sunday and Monday, it wouldnt be nearly as difficult as it is now. But people were too self-absorbed to think about their neighbors.

We did shovel on Sunday but now it is impossible to break through the snowcrete without something better than my plastic shovel. I don’t have any gardening tools. It’s supposed to get above freezing on I think Tuesday so maybe that will be an opportunity.

I ordered a garden shovel from amazon, but good luck getting one delivered before Wednesday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AACPS in MD just posted this:
"Out of an abundance of caution and in order to allow additional time for student and staff travel, all Anne Arundel County Public Schools will open two hours late on Monday, Feb. 2, and Tuesday, Feb. 3..."
It's in MD, but I am wondering if the other school systems in the area will do the same.

Possibly? If FCPS schools open, I think it would be a huge mistake to do so without a delay.

I’m of two minds about this. Yes a delay gives them more time to get there because the walking will be slower going than usual. But if parents need to drive them when they’d typically walk or bus, having that occur at the time parents would usually be going to work is a lot easier on families than sticking around til 9-10 to drive them in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

It is completely within the realm of reason for the school district to ask people who live in the neighborhoods to pitch in and shovel and clear the sidewalks and bus stops so the kids of that neighborhood can go to school. You live there. That is your home. Shoveling it is within your sphere of responsibility. It is borderline sociopathic to think this is an unreasonable ask. Some of you NEED to start viewing yourself as part of your community vs some isolated island whose only responsibility is to yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AACPS in MD just posted this:
"Out of an abundance of caution and in order to allow additional time for student and staff travel, all Anne Arundel County Public Schools will open two hours late on Monday, Feb. 2, and Tuesday, Feb. 3..."
It's in MD, but I am wondering if the other school systems in the area will do the same.

Possibly? If FCPS schools open, I think it would be a huge mistake to do so without a delay.

I’m of two minds about this. Yes a delay gives them more time to get there because the walking will be slower going than usual. But if parents need to drive them when they’d typically walk or bus, having that occur at the time parents would usually be going to work is a lot easier on families than sticking around til 9-10 to drive them in

Why does a school need to consider an adult’s work schedule when deciding if a school is safe to open or not?

Regardless, a delay would serve the purpose of making sure middle schoolers weren’t standing in the middle of the road in the dark (because they will %100 be standing in the street).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

It is completely within the realm of reason for the school district to ask people who live in the neighborhoods to pitch in and shovel and clear the sidewalks and bus stops so the kids of that neighborhood can go to school. You live there. That is your home. Shoveling it is within your sphere of responsibility. It is borderline sociopathic to think this is an unreasonable ask. Some of you NEED to start viewing yourself as part of your community vs some isolated island whose only responsibility is to yourselves.

We don’t live in a neighborhood. Do you expect residents to clear public roads too? Because in our case, VDOT plowed and left a 6-foot pile of ice exactly where the bus stop is. That’s not something I can reasonably or safely fix with my shovel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

It is completely within the realm of reason for the school district to ask people who live in the neighborhoods to pitch in and shovel and clear the sidewalks and bus stops so the kids of that neighborhood can go to school. You live there. That is your home. Shoveling it is within your sphere of responsibility. It is borderline sociopathic to think this is an unreasonable ask. Some of you NEED to start viewing yourself as part of your community vs some isolated island whose only responsibility is to yourselves.

+100. If only people had been considerate neighbors and gotten out on Sunday and Monday to clean the snow and their sidewalks we won’t be in this position. The entitlement some people are showing in this thread about not wanting to clean their own sidewalks and help out their neighbors is so sad. No wonder this country is in the political state it is. No sense of community and no regard for the safety of children. There’s a reason this county is obsessed with guns and their own comfort.

Since so many people are selfish and entitled in this area, I hope the county passes an ordinance where homeowners are required to shovel their sidewalk within 24 hours of any snowfall or they will face a hefty monetary penalty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Where do you see/read this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

It is completely within the realm of reason for the school district to ask people who live in the neighborhoods to pitch in and shovel and clear the sidewalks and bus stops so the kids of that neighborhood can go to school. You live there. That is your home. Shoveling it is within your sphere of responsibility. It is borderline sociopathic to think this is an unreasonable ask. Some of you NEED to start viewing yourself as part of your community vs some isolated island whose only responsibility is to yourselves.

+100. If only people had been considerate neighbors and gotten out on Sunday and Monday to clean the snow and their sidewalks we won’t be in this position. The entitlement some people are showing in this thread about not wanting to clean their own sidewalks and help out their neighbors is so sad. No wonder this country is in the political state it is. No sense of community and no regard for the safety of children. There’s a reason this county is obsessed with guns and their own comfort.

Since so many people are selfish and entitled in this area, I hope the county passes an ordinance where homeowners are required to shovel their sidewalk within 24 hours of any snowfall or they will face a hefty monetary penalty.

Residents are not legally obligated to do it. Planning for student safety can’t depend on voluntary labor!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Where do you see/read this?

They sent an email

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

It is completely within the realm of reason for the school district to ask people who live in the neighborhoods to pitch in and shovel and clear the sidewalks and bus stops so the kids of that neighborhood can go to school. You live there. That is your home. Shoveling it is within your sphere of responsibility. It is borderline sociopathic to think this is an unreasonable ask. Some of you NEED to start viewing yourself as part of your community vs some isolated island whose only responsibility is to yourselves.

We don’t live in a neighborhood. Do you expect residents to clear public roads too? Because in our case, VDOT plowed and left a 6-foot pile of ice exactly where the bus stop is. That’s not something I can reasonably or safely fix with my shovel.

+100 I live in an apartment with a property manager who has done nada. Most apartment dwellers don’t own garden tools, so the majority of us weren’t prepared for snowcrete removal. It’s a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Where do you see/read this?

They sent an email

This one https://www.fcps.edu/news/winter-weather-update-fairfax-county-public-schools