We are NEVER going back until covid is 100% gone - MCPS has no leadership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're being very reasonable and logical. Such thinking has no place in MCPS.

That's why so many MD school districts already have plans for a phase reopening or even have some kids already back, while MCPS doesn't even have a plan and hasn't been preparing at all.

Every excuse people make for MCPS -- overcrowding, old HVAC systems, not enough sinks -- apply to other districts in MD also, and yet they can pull it off.

All the pretty plans in the world don't mean much when students in those other districts are doing exactly what the students in MCPS are doing.

That's because the problem here is not a lack of a plan. The problem here is that there is disagreement among school leadership, school staff, and parents about what to do. In order for kids to go back to school, the leadership has to decide that kids will go back to school, and the school staff has to decide that they will go back to school. Make those decisions, and the rest will follow.

Washington County started phased in-person learning a month ago. They moved to the next phase (more kids back at school) this week.

Anne Arundel will start phased in-person learning next month.

Allegany had preK and K in school since the start of this month. 1st grade went back this week. 2nd grade starts next week.

Garrett has had elementary kids back since the start of this month.

Tell me again how all the other districts in MD are doing what MCPS is doing?

These are all small counties and not even comparable.

Wouldn't they have schools with the same building issues? How did they work around them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

I'm the PP with the proposal, and actually my point was that the full DL option is also fully imaginary at this point. It's up to the state and Hogan, and I haven't noticed them proposing anything of the sort. Have you? Hogan is happy to use every opportunity to take swipes at Elrich, but he's not doing the things that would actually help kids get back to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

I'm the PP with the proposal, and actually my point was that the full DL option is also fully imaginary at this point. It's up to the state and Hogan, and I haven't noticed them proposing anything of the sort. Have you? Hogan is happy to use every opportunity to take swipes at Elrich, but he's not doing the things that would actually help kids get back to school.

To do DL and in person we'd need twice as many teachers/staff as we have now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Washington County started phased in-person learning a month ago. They moved to the next phase (more kids back at school) this week.

Anne Arundel will start phased in-person learning next month.

Allegany had preK and K in school since the start of this month. 1st grade went back this week. 2nd grade starts next week.

Garrett has had elementary kids back since the start of this month.

Tell me again how all the other districts in MD are doing what MCPS is doing?

Eh. What school districts are currently proposing to do in the future, is not really relevant.

There are 23 public school districts in Maryland that aren't MCPS. So far there seem to be 3 - Washington, Garrett, and Allegany - where some of the kids are in school. What are the other 20 doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're being very reasonable and logical. Such thinking has no place in MCPS.

That's why so many MD school districts already have plans for a phase reopening or even have some kids already back, while MCPS doesn't even have a plan and hasn't been preparing at all.

Every excuse people make for MCPS -- overcrowding, old HVAC systems, not enough sinks -- apply to other districts in MD also, and yet they can pull it off.

All the pretty plans in the world don't mean much when students in those other districts are doing exactly what the students in MCPS are doing.

That's because the problem here is not a lack of a plan. The problem here is that there is disagreement among school leadership, school staff, and parents about what to do. In order for kids to go back to school, the leadership has to decide that kids will go back to school, and the school staff has to decide that they will go back to school. Make those decisions, and the rest will follow.

Washington County started phased in-person learning a month ago. They moved to the next phase (more kids back at school) this week.

Anne Arundel will start phased in-person learning next month.

Allegany had preK and K in school since the start of this month. 1st grade went back this week. 2nd grade starts next week.

Garrett has had elementary kids back since the start of this month.

Tell me again how all the other districts in MD are doing what MCPS is doing?

These are all small counties and not even comparable.

Wouldn't they have schools with the same building issues? How did they work around them?

Not all are fully going back. Its misleading to say they are and reality is every positive covid there will be a shut down which will be more disruptive for those who need child care. Their schools don't have 3000 students in them for starters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

I'm the PP with the proposal, and actually my point was that the full DL option is also fully imaginary at this point. It's up to the state and Hogan, and I haven't noticed them proposing anything of the sort. Have you? Hogan is happy to use every opportunity to take swipes at Elrich, but he's not doing the things that would actually help kids get back to school.

To do DL and in person we'd need twice as many teachers/staff as we have now.

That's not true at all. We'd need twice as many teachers/staff if in every school, half of the students did DL, half of the students went to school, and otherwise everything else remained the same. But we don't know how many students would do DL vs go back to school, and things do not have to remain the same. For example, in an elementary school with 4 kindergarten classes, what if 75% of students went to school and 25% did DL? Then you could have 3 classes of K in school, and 1 class of K in DL, with the 4 K teachers.

[Anonymous]

Washington County, for example:

https://www.niche.com/k12/d/washington-county-public-schools-md/

They have 24K Students vs 166K students at MCPS.

You cannot even compare the sale of what the two school systems are facing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not all are fully going back. Its misleading to say they are and reality is every positive covid there will be a shut down which will be more disruptive for those who need child care. Their schools don't have 3000 students in them for starters.

There are 206 schools in MCPS. One (1) of them has 3000 students. The other 205 have fewer than 3000 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is providing a clear plan except to rant. Older schools don’t have and hvac system and are on a water boiler system. They don’t have the duct for an hvac. Many of these schools need to be torn down like ours but they only get done when things are so bad and they usually only do one at a time. The money goes to the rich schools where parents advocate and some of those schools have had multiple renovations. Your schools are probably ok, ours are not but since they all fall under mcps you cannot open. You need to advocate for the schools not up to standards, not just yours. Instead of all that Astro turf we could have had a new roof and working windows.

Here's a clear plan:

(1) soap in all of the bathrooms, masks required, bus windows open, no band or chorus, PE outside, recess outside (in all weather), lunch in classrooms, extra cleaning staff to clean the classrooms lunch is eaten in, everyone back to school full day five days a week except people enrolled in the statewide distance learning program
(2) a statewide distance learning program

The problem with this plan is not lack of clarity. The problem is that it's politically impossible. MCPS, plenty of teachers, and Hogan won't agree to it.

+1. That's basically the same idea I posted above. Two options. Keep it simple. I don't see how any families can object to this.

the only objection can be from the few teachers that will have to return against their will

PP, if that were the only objection, we'd be doing it already.

Sure, its more nuanced than that. Its probably that the teachers union will object if there are teachers that dont want to return but are forced to, which is the point of unions, I suppose....

What are the other objections? Parents that want a return get a return; parents what want DL get DL

Stop blaming the teachers. As a parent we don't want to go back to an unsafe situation.

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

You are wrong and selfish to demand we return to school and you cannot say a clear plan to make it happen. Just because you don't want to take care of your kids. You don't care about anyone else but you and your needs. You are selfish. We cannot return because people like you are living their lives as normal and will infect others and not care. It may be fine for your family and you are willing to take that risk but many of us know the consequences of losing a parent or child and aren't willing.

You clearly don't understand the virus, how it spreads or understand the issues involved with the buildings, overcrowding and much more if you don't understand why those are not options.

We cannot do outside learning due to safety issues.

Wow, you're actually really, really selfish. Just stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Washington County, for example:

https://www.niche.com/k12/d/washington-county-public-schools-md/

They have 24K Students vs 166K students at MCPS.

You cannot even compare the sale of what the two school systems are facing.

What is MCPS specifically doing about the scale they're facing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is providing a clear plan except to rant. Older schools don’t have and hvac system and are on a water boiler system. They don’t have the duct for an hvac. Many of these schools need to be torn down like ours but they only get done when things are so bad and they usually only do one at a time. The money goes to the rich schools where parents advocate and some of those schools have had multiple renovations. Your schools are probably ok, ours are not but since they all fall under mcps you cannot open. You need to advocate for the schools not up to standards, not just yours. Instead of all that Astro turf we could have had a new roof and working windows.

Here's a clear plan:

(1) soap in all of the bathrooms, masks required, bus windows open, no band or chorus, PE outside, recess outside (in all weather), lunch in classrooms, extra cleaning staff to clean the classrooms lunch is eaten in, everyone back to school full day five days a week except people enrolled in the statewide distance learning program
(2) a statewide distance learning program

The problem with this plan is not lack of clarity. The problem is that it's politically impossible. MCPS, plenty of teachers, and Hogan won't agree to it.

+1. That's basically the same idea I posted above. Two options. Keep it simple. I don't see how any families can object to this.

the only objection can be from the few teachers that will have to return against their will

PP, if that were the only objection, we'd be doing it already.

Sure, its more nuanced than that. Its probably that the teachers union will object if there are teachers that dont want to return but are forced to, which is the point of unions, I suppose....

What are the other objections? Parents that want a return get a return; parents what want DL get DL

Stop blaming the teachers. As a parent we don't want to go back to an unsafe situation.

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

You are wrong and selfish to demand we return to school and you cannot say a clear plan to make it happen. Just because you don't want to take care of your kids. You don't care about anyone else but you and your needs. You are selfish. We cannot return because people like you are living their lives as normal and will infect others and not care. It may be fine for your family and you are willing to take that risk but many of us know the consequences of losing a parent or child and aren't willing.

You clearly don't understand the virus, how it spreads or understand the issues involved with the buildings, overcrowding and much more if you don't understand why those are not options.

We cannot do outside learning due to safety issues.

Wow, you're actually really, really selfish. Just stay home.

How am I being selfish? Hire someone to take care of your kids if you don't want to? The county has child care vouchers for school aged kids if you need help. Selfish is living in a million dollar house and screaming poverty when it comes to caring for your kids and not wanting to do it yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington County, for example:

https://www.niche.com/k12/d/washington-county-public-schools-md/

They have 24K Students vs 166K students at MCPS.

You cannot even compare the sale of what the two school systems are facing.

What is MCPS specifically doing about the scale they're facing?

Probably nothing. What can they do? They don't have the funds to do the repairs or replacements and have canceled several projects for safety that were supposed to be done over the summer. They don't have the funds to buy land/build additional schools to make them smaller. So, we wait it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

I'm the PP with the proposal, and actually my point was that the full DL option is also fully imaginary at this point. It's up to the state and Hogan, and I haven't noticed them proposing anything of the sort. Have you? Hogan is happy to use every opportunity to take swipes at Elrich, but he's not doing the things that would actually help kids get back to school.

To do DL and in person we'd need twice as many teachers/staff as we have now.

That's not true at all. We'd need twice as many teachers/staff if in every school, half of the students did DL, half of the students went to school, and otherwise everything else remained the same. But we don't know how many students would do DL vs go back to school, and things do not have to remain the same. For example, in an elementary school with 4 kindergarten classes, what if 75% of students went to school and 25% did DL? Then you could have 3 classes of K in school, and 1 class of K in DL, with the 4 K teachers.

And, how would you deal with the capacity issue at school at 75%. Your numbers wouldn't work as kids need to be at least 6 feet away, preferably 10. Not including all the repairs needed to many of the buildings. Most classrooms don't have the space for social distancing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

I'm the PP with the proposal, and actually my point was that the full DL option is also fully imaginary at this point. It's up to the state and Hogan, and I haven't noticed them proposing anything of the sort. Have you? Hogan is happy to use every opportunity to take swipes at Elrich, but he's not doing the things that would actually help kids get back to school.

To do DL and in person we'd need twice as many teachers/staff as we have now.

That's not true at all. We'd need twice as many teachers/staff if in every school, half of the students did DL, half of the students went to school, and otherwise everything else remained the same. But we don't know how many students would do DL vs go back to school, and things do not have to remain the same. For example, in an elementary school with 4 kindergarten classes, what if 75% of students went to school and 25% did DL? Then you could have 3 classes of K in school, and 1 class of K in DL, with the 4 K teachers.

And, how would you deal with the capacity issue at school at 75%. Your numbers wouldn't work as kids need to be at least 6 feet away, preferably 10. Not including all the repairs needed to many of the buildings. Most classrooms don't have the space for social distancing.

Why 10? Who has ever discussed 10?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

THEN. DON'T. GO.

Honestly why is this so hard to understand? The proposal by a previous poster had a full DL option.

But you do realize how wrong and selfish it is to say "my family does not want to return. thus, no families can return.'

Spoiler alert: you are not the queen of england, and you shall not be treated as such

I'm the PP with the proposal, and actually my point was that the full DL option is also fully imaginary at this point. It's up to the state and Hogan, and I haven't noticed them proposing anything of the sort. Have you? Hogan is happy to use every opportunity to take swipes at Elrich, but he's not doing the things that would actually help kids get back to school.

Hogan went strong getting tests and PPE's and shutting things down. He caved into politics and did nothing to fund PPE's and updating schools to make them safe to return. He set up the counties to look bad when he's part fo the problem.