Support the Montgomery Virtual Academy (MVA) from Budget Cuts!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I take a real live and let live approach with the MVA. I think there are definitely kids and families for whom it works and teachers for whom it works. But I just cannot really be convinced that it's a better model, especially for young children. There was a reason why the MVA originally was phasing out enrollment for kindergarten and first grade not just because of decline interest, but also just because it's not a model that works well with our youngest learners.

We shouldn't be facilitating child abuse. There are absolutely kids in MVA that shouldn't be there. At the very least we need to close it at the elementary and middle school levels.

[Anonymous]

Remote learning leads to a ton of cheating. Impossible to know who is actually doing the work especially as kids are allowed to keep cameras off. You actually have no idea who is behind the screen. Kids often respond by writing in the chat. Anyone could be impersonating the child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remote learning leads to a ton of cheating. Impossible to know who is actually doing the work especially as kids are allowed to keep cameras off. You actually have no idea who is behind the screen. Kids often respond by writing in the chat. Anyone could be impersonating the child

If a child wants to cheat they will. They can do all this in person and more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take a real live and let live approach with the MVA. I think there are definitely kids and families for whom it works and teachers for whom it works. But I just cannot really be convinced that it's a better model, especially for young children. There was a reason why the MVA originally was phasing out enrollment for kindergarten and first grade not just because of decline interest, but also just because it's not a model that works well with our youngest learners.

We shouldn't be facilitating child abuse. There are absolutely kids in MVA that shouldn't be there. At the very least we need to close it at the elementary and middle school levels.

Clearly you don’t know what child abuse is but maybe if you got off social media your kids could be more successful. Why are screens ok for you if you are so against them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take a real live and let live approach with the MVA. I think there are definitely kids and families for whom it works and teachers for whom it works. But I just cannot really be convinced that it's a better model, especially for young children. There was a reason why the MVA originally was phasing out enrollment for kindergarten and first grade not just because of decline interest, but also just because it's not a model that works well with our youngest learners.

We shouldn't be facilitating child abuse. There are absolutely kids in MVA that shouldn't be there. At the very least we need to close it at the elementary and middle school levels.

Clearly you don’t know what child abuse is but maybe if you got off social media your kids could be more successful. Why are screens ok for you if you are so against them?

Screens themselves aren't the problem with MVA- it's the lack of meaningful interaction with teachers and peers.

Why are you so intent on controlling your son and daughter's interactions with others? What are you scared they would say if they were to get away from you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take a real live and let live approach with the MVA. I think there are definitely kids and families for whom it works and teachers for whom it works. But I just cannot really be convinced that it's a better model, especially for young children. There was a reason why the MVA originally was phasing out enrollment for kindergarten and first grade not just because of decline interest, but also just because it's not a model that works well with our youngest learners.

We shouldn't be facilitating child abuse. There are absolutely kids in MVA that shouldn't be there. At the very least we need to close it at the elementary and middle school levels.

Clearly you don’t know what child abuse is but maybe if you got off social media your kids could be more successful. Why are screens ok for you if you are so against them?

Screens themselves aren't the problem with MVA- it's the lack of meaningful interaction with teachers and peers.

Why are you so intent on controlling your son and daughter's interactions with others? What are you scared they would say if they were to get away from you?

You just said screens were the problem. Why do you assume they don't have meaningful interactions? I can guarantee you my kids are in more activities and sports than yours are. Is that not meaningful interactions.

Kids can go in person and never interact with anyone. Just being in a room full of people is not meaningful interactions.

My kids get plenty of time away from me. We enjoy spending time together. I'm sorry yours don't enjoy spending time with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take a real live and let live approach with the MVA. I think there are definitely kids and families for whom it works and teachers for whom it works. But I just cannot really be convinced that it's a better model, especially for young children. There was a reason why the MVA originally was phasing out enrollment for kindergarten and first grade not just because of decline interest, but also just because it's not a model that works well with our youngest learners.

We shouldn't be facilitating child abuse. There are absolutely kids in MVA that shouldn't be there. At the very least we need to close it at the elementary and middle school levels.

Clearly you don’t know what child abuse is but maybe if you got off social media your kids could be more successful. Why are screens ok for you if you are so against them?

Screens themselves aren't the problem with MVA- it's the lack of meaningful interaction with teachers and peers.

Why are you so intent on controlling your son and daughter's interactions with others? What are you scared they would say if they were to get away from you?

You just said screens were the problem. Why do you assume they don't have meaningful interactions? I can guarantee you my kids are in more activities and sports than yours are. Is that not meaningful interactions.

Kids can go in person and never interact with anyone. Just being in a room full of people is not meaningful interactions.

My kids get plenty of time away from me. We enjoy spending time together. I'm sorry yours don't enjoy spending time with you.

Just wait 10-12 years. Once your kids are free of you, they're never going to come back.

[Anonymous]

Putting it another way, kids tend to appreciate more stepping away from screens after spending school hours working on them. On the other hand, when kids are physically present in school, it's noticeable that they often choose to engage with their devices rather than having conversations with friends and family. It's an unfortunate reality, but it's something we can easily see happening around us, such as restaurants. Instead of having conversations, they opt to chat thru text messages or send reels. It's interesting to observe how the dynamics have shifted. So, yes, it's worth asking, who's running away already?

[Anonymous]

Getting back on topic, are special education staff going to be developing integration plans for the kids coming from MVA? Particularly for the lower elementary kids, some of whom have never talked to another child in real life before. There are already social skills groups in elementary schools, but theses kids may need additional support.

I know they can't do anything that would add expenses to the budget, but can they arrange some meet-ups over the summer to introduce these kids to peers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic, are special education staff going to be developing integration plans for the kids coming from MVA? Particularly for the lower elementary kids, some of whom have never talked to another child in real life before. There are already social skills groups in elementary schools, but theses kids may need additional support.

I know they can't do anything that would add expenses to the budget, but can they arrange some meet-ups over the summer to introduce these kids to peers?

Why would they do that? They would have to pay staff to facilitate that. They are already looking under couch cushions to try to find money to facilitate 10-month employees attending legally mandated summer IEP meetings within timelines. Nobody is coming in for free over the summer to arrange "meet-ups" to try to mitigate students' deficits in social skills that are caused or exacerbated by choices their parents made. If the child has such significant needs in that area, then the IEP probably reflects that parents declined in-person interaction to address those goals, meaning it's not suddenly the school's problem. The families can facilitate it themselves like everyone else does if that's what they want.

People can't simultaneously pontificate about how amazing the MVA is and then expect extra money and support to help repair deficits it created for a choice they made. Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic, are special education staff going to be developing integration plans for the kids coming from MVA? Particularly for the lower elementary kids, some of whom have never talked to another child in real life before. There are already social skills groups in elementary schools, but theses kids may need additional support.

I know they can't do anything that would add expenses to the budget, but can they arrange some meet-ups over the summer to introduce these kids to peers?

Why would they do that? They would have to pay staff to facilitate that. They are already looking under couch cushions to try to find money to facilitate 10-month employees attending legally mandated summer IEP meetings within timelines. Nobody is coming in for free over the summer to arrange "meet-ups" to try to mitigate students' deficits in social skills that are caused or exacerbated by choices their parents made. If the child has such significant needs in that area, then the IEP probably reflects that parents declined in-person interaction to address those goals, meaning it's not suddenly the school's problem. The families can facilitate it themselves like everyone else does if that's what they want.

People can't simultaneously pontificate about how amazing the MVA is and then expect extra money and support to help repair deficits it created for a choice they made. Wow.

In fairness, the parents didn't choose for it to end up being such a bad program that it ended up getting cut

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic, are special education staff going to be developing integration plans for the kids coming from MVA? Particularly for the lower elementary kids, some of whom have never talked to another child in real life before. There are already social skills groups in elementary schools, but theses kids may need additional support.

I know they can't do anything that would add expenses to the budget, but can they arrange some meet-ups over the summer to introduce these kids to peers?

Those parents need to contact their PTA. The PTA can connect them to grade reps and email out a request to contact the family if they’re willing to be a “buddy family”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic, are special education staff going to be developing integration plans for the kids coming from MVA? Particularly for the lower elementary kids, some of whom have never talked to another child in real life before. There are already social skills groups in elementary schools, but theses kids may need additional support.

I know they can't do anything that would add expenses to the budget, but can they arrange some meet-ups over the summer to introduce these kids to peers?

Why would they do that? They would have to pay staff to facilitate that. They are already looking under couch cushions to try to find money to facilitate 10-month employees attending legally mandated summer IEP meetings within timelines. Nobody is coming in for free over the summer to arrange "meet-ups" to try to mitigate students' deficits in social skills that are caused or exacerbated by choices their parents made. If the child has such significant needs in that area, then the IEP probably reflects that parents declined in-person interaction to address those goals, meaning it's not suddenly the school's problem. The families can facilitate it themselves like everyone else does if that's what they want.

People can't simultaneously pontificate about how amazing the MVA is and then expect extra money and support to help repair deficits it created for a choice they made. Wow.

Can staff volunteer? These kids aren't going to know how to interact with their peers. You can't rip them away from their parents and expect them to know how to behave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic, are special education staff going to be developing integration plans for the kids coming from MVA? Particularly for the lower elementary kids, some of whom have never talked to another child in real life before. There are already social skills groups in elementary schools, but theses kids may need additional support.

I know they can't do anything that would add expenses to the budget, but can they arrange some meet-ups over the summer to introduce these kids to peers?

Why would they do that? They would have to pay staff to facilitate that. They are already looking under couch cushions to try to find money to facilitate 10-month employees attending legally mandated summer IEP meetings within timelines. Nobody is coming in for free over the summer to arrange "meet-ups" to try to mitigate students' deficits in social skills that are caused or exacerbated by choices their parents made. If the child has such significant needs in that area, then the IEP probably reflects that parents declined in-person interaction to address those goals, meaning it's not suddenly the school's problem. The families can facilitate it themselves like everyone else does if that's what they want.

People can't simultaneously pontificate about how amazing the MVA is and then expect extra money and support to help repair deficits it created for a choice they made. Wow.

Can staff volunteer? These kids aren't going to know how to interact with their peers. You can't rip them away from their parents and expect them to know how to behave.

Oh my, hey troll. Bored?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic, are special education staff going to be developing integration plans for the kids coming from MVA? Particularly for the lower elementary kids, some of whom have never talked to another child in real life before. There are already social skills groups in elementary schools, but theses kids may need additional support.

I know they can't do anything that would add expenses to the budget, but can they arrange some meet-ups over the summer to introduce these kids to peers?

Why would they do that? They would have to pay staff to facilitate that. They are already looking under couch cushions to try to find money to facilitate 10-month employees attending legally mandated summer IEP meetings within timelines. Nobody is coming in for free over the summer to arrange "meet-ups" to try to mitigate students' deficits in social skills that are caused or exacerbated by choices their parents made. If the child has such significant needs in that area, then the IEP probably reflects that parents declined in-person interaction to address those goals, meaning it's not suddenly the school's problem. The families can facilitate it themselves like everyone else does if that's what they want.

People can't simultaneously pontificate about how amazing the MVA is and then expect extra money and support to help repair deficits it created for a choice they made. Wow.

Can staff volunteer? These kids aren't going to know how to interact with their peers. You can't rip them away from their parents and expect them to know how to behave.

Oh my, hey troll. Bored?

You get to keep your schools. The least you can do is help the kids forced to leave MVA.