How can you expect schools to reopen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I’m not defending DL. It was appallingly deficient.

But doesn’t safety trump education at the moment?

Candidly, I think schools should up their DL game but essentially plan for this year to not count. I suggest no grades, and just repeat the grade level next year—at least for math and foreign language which cannot be self taught. Nobody is learning calculus via DL, and Spanish instruction was a joke.

That depends on how you define "safety," doesn't it? If "safety" began and ended with covid, then yes, keep the schools closed. But "safety" does not begin and end with covid.

As for repeating the year, how would that work? Twice as many kindergartners next year? Nobody graduates from high school until next year? Why have remote instruction at all this year? It would be cheaper to throw in the towel and concede that a whole generation of kids will just be dumber. Sorry, kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would return to my office now if allowed. We are in a large building with so so air quality but even when my floor is filled I can easily maintain 6 ft distance.

COVID hangs in the air for hours

[Anonymous]

I am so tired of this merry-go-round. Can I just save us some time here?

- Some camps have been able to stay open. Other camps have had to close.

- Some countries have been able to maintain in-person learning. Others haven't.

- Some studies have shown that kids don't spread the virus, or spread it less. Others have not.

- Teachers are not happy about DL - there are some bad apples, but in the main, if it were safe, they'd much rather be teaching in person.

- DL is not ideal for kids generally. There are socialization concerns, although those can be addressed in other ways. But kids absorb much less education from DL than they do in person, especially the younger ones.

- DL is difficult for parents, and a goddamn nightmare for working parents. It's not because these parents "don't want to parent their kids." It's because kids need technical and substantive assistance with DL, especially the younger ones, and parents are not trained or certified in MCPS curriculum standards and techniques. And working parents cannot fully engage with their kids during the school day, because they need to work.

- DL is the safest option for now.

- DL will not be around forever.

- DL is the best of a truly shitty set of choices, and the fact that we're left with those choices is a direct result of the failure of the federal government to contain this pandemic in the first place or establish protocols that would have it under control now to allow in-school learning to be sufficiently safe.

- Everyone here, including the teachers and the parents and the working parents and the MCPS admin and the kids, are all dealing with an unprecedented set of circumstances that change weekly if not daily and are under enormous stress.

- Being an a$$hole helps no one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would return to my office now if allowed. We are in a large building with so so air quality but even when my floor is filled I can easily maintain 6 ft distance.

COVID hangs in the air for hours

No, coronavirus (not covid) may (or may not) hang in the air for hours; and even if it does, it's not at all certain whether anyone gets infected that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being snarky, but how can you expect schools to reopen when the majority of dc offices have announced telework until 2021?

My office and upwards of 20 other fed agencies, nonprofits, firms, etc. (plus the thread in the jobs forum) have already announced they’ll reevaluate in 2021.

I understand many people still must go to offices/hospitals/etc., but you must realize the seriousness of the situation when DC offices that never allowed telework are now mandating it through 2021.

Can everyone just stop criticizing the schools and focus on planning for the Fall? You critics sound ridiculous. Like Chuck Woolery.

Offices are announcing telework BECAUSE schools are closed. So that they're not telling their employees who have children who aren't in school and need childcare, "Sorry, you've been teleworking, but that's enough of that, it's not our problem if your children aren't in school, you have to come in anyway."

Duh. OP, think a little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being snarky, but how can you expect schools to reopen when the majority of dc offices have announced telework until 2021?

My office and upwards of 20 other fed agencies, nonprofits, firms, etc. (plus the thread in the jobs forum) have already announced they’ll reevaluate in 2021.

I understand many people still must go to offices/hospitals/etc., but you must realize the seriousness of the situation when DC offices that never allowed telework are now mandating it through 2021.

Can everyone just stop criticizing the schools and focus on planning for the Fall? You critics sound ridiculous. Like Chuck Woolery.

Offices are announcing telework BECAUSE schools are closed. So that they're not telling their employees who have children who aren't in school and need childcare, "Sorry, you've been teleworking, but that's enough of that, it's not our problem if your children aren't in school, you have to come in anyway."

Yeah we were slated to come back in early Sept., but as soon as the schools started announcing their plans, leadership wisely reversed course. It’s all connected.

Of course, I don’t think “distance learning” for an elementary schooler schooler is very effective either. Kids are not mini adults and there are valid reasons why screen time should be limited. Much different from adults who spend most of their time in the office on a computer anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would return to my office now if allowed. We are in a large building with so so air quality but even when my floor is filled I can easily maintain 6 ft distance.

COVID hangs in the air for hours

No, coronavirus (not covid) may (or may not) hang in the air for hours; and even if it does, it's not at all certain whether anyone gets infected that way.

Do you have a source for this? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would return to my office now if allowed. We are in a large building with so so air quality but even when my floor is filled I can easily maintain 6 ft distance.

COVID hangs in the air for hours

No, coronavirus (not covid) may (or may not) hang in the air for hours; and even if it does, it's not at all certain whether anyone gets infected that way.

Do you have a source for this? Thanks.

They're lying. It does.

Coronavirus spreads through droplets that an infected person emits through coughs or sneezes and through smaller, infectious viral particles that can drift around in the air for several hour

source Harvard Health https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would return to my office now if allowed. We are in a large building with so so air quality but even when my floor is filled I can easily maintain 6 ft distance.

COVID hangs in the air for hours

No, coronavirus (not covid) may (or may not) hang in the air for hours; and even if it does, it's not at all certain whether anyone gets infected that way.

Do you have a source for this? Thanks.

Long review article from Nature, 7/8/20 updated 7/23/20: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02058-1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would return to my office now if allowed. We are in a large building with so so air quality but even when my floor is filled I can easily maintain 6 ft distance.

COVID hangs in the air for hours

No, coronavirus (not covid) may (or may not) hang in the air for hours; and even if it does, it's not at all certain whether anyone gets infected that way.

Do you have a source for this? Thanks.

They're lying. It does.

Coronavirus spreads through droplets that an infected person emits through coughs or sneezes and through smaller, infectious viral particles that can drift around in the air for several hour

source Harvard Health https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center

Thanks for clearing that up. The right seems bent on minimizing the seriousness of this pandemic by spreading misinformation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for clearing that up. The right seems bent on minimizing the seriousness of this pandemic by spreading misinformation.

Are you referring to that well-known right-wing organ of misinformation, Nature?

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02058-1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being snarky, but how can you expect schools to reopen when the majority of dc offices have announced telework until 2021?

My office and upwards of 20 other fed agencies, nonprofits, firms, etc. (plus the thread in the jobs forum) have already announced they’ll reevaluate in 2021.

I understand many people still must go to offices/hospitals/etc., but you must realize the seriousness of the situation when DC offices that never allowed telework are now mandating it through 2021.

Can everyone just stop criticizing the schools and focus on planning for the Fall? You critics sound ridiculous. Like Chuck Woolery.

Offices are announcing telework BECAUSE schools are closed. So that they're not telling their employees who have children who aren't in school and need childcare, "Sorry, you've been teleworking, but that's enough of that, it's not our problem if your children aren't in school, you have to come in anyway."

Duh. OP, think a little.

Many offices announced telework through 2021 weeks or months ago before schools made announcements.

[Anonymous]

Actually my company is also revising plans after school announcements.