All Falls Church City Schools teachers to receive vaccine Monday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

I know a lot of people are upset about the decision last fall, but the fall is over and we can't go back. It is time to focus on the future. Get the vaccine distributed and try to return to school, work, etc. I can't think of one person who hasn't been affected by COVID - physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Instead of dwelling on what we can't change, let's look towards the spring and next year. (Parent of an 11th Grader)

With all due respect, as the parent of a six year old, I think it’s a little harder to be zen about the situation when your child is six years old and cries every morning because she is expected to sit alone in front of a screen all day.

Oh no. I am so sorry. I teach high school (virtually, right now) but there are days I feel like your daughter. I have cats and that helps a lot. Give her a hug for me.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have young learners in FCCPS. We are desperate to get back to school. Every week matters. No, I am not okay waiting for just a 'few more weeks' for everyone to be vaccinated b/c 1) I don't believe it really would be just a few more weeks- It's 28 days from first shot (this Monday) to the second shot. That means the earliest FCCPS teachers are getting the second shot is Feb 15th. And so if we are waiting for that to kick in fully, we are looking at Feb 22nd at the earliest. AND and this is a big and, that assumes that everything goes smoothly on Monday and the 2nd doses are available right on time.
2) We were told at the end of the summer that 'give us a few weeks to get things together...' then 'we'll go virtual week after thanksgiving...' it keeps on getting pushed back. No more excuses.
3) our rates are simply not increasing. They are stable/ declining.
4) IF there really is a new variant coming that is going to shut us down again, we need to push even harder to get some in person learning in.
I have been crazy careful. I have followed Dr. Noonan's directions about mask wearing, not going to indoor gatherings, social distancing, etc to the nth degree. I have 'done my part to stop the spread.' My kids need to be back in school now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

I know a lot of people are upset about the decision last fall, but the fall is over and we can't go back. It is time to focus on the future. Get the vaccine distributed and try to return to school, work, etc. I can't think of one person who hasn't been affected by COVID - physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Instead of dwelling on what we can't change, let's look towards the spring and next year. (Parent of an 11th Grader)

With all due respect, as the parent of a six year old, I think it’s a little harder to be zen about the situation when your child is six years old and cries every morning because she is expected to sit alone in front of a screen all day.

If she truly cries EVERY morning, about 80 mornings by now, why haven't you pulled her out? for homeschooling? Or do K next year? Maybe that would help with the zen. Take care of your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

I know a lot of people are upset about the decision last fall, but the fall is over and we can't go back. It is time to focus on the future. Get the vaccine distributed and try to return to school, work, etc. I can't think of one person who hasn't been affected by COVID - physically, emotionally, financially, socially. Instead of dwelling on what we can't change, let's look towards the spring and next year. (Parent of an 11th Grader)

With all due respect, as the parent of a six year old, I think it’s a little harder to be zen about the situation when your child is six years old and cries every morning because she is expected to sit alone in front of a screen all day.

If she truly cries EVERY morning, about 80 mornings by now, why haven't you pulled her out? for homeschooling? Or do K next year? Maybe that would help with the zen. Take care of your family.

The first few weeks weren’t so bad but once the novelty wore off its become progressively worse. She’s in 1st grade not kindergarten so holding her back isn’t an option. Both DH and I work full-time so really don’t know how we would manage homeschool. I genuinely looked into taking a leave of absence for a year but it’s just not financially feasible. Plus I kept foolishly thinking/hoping that they would actually go back in person on the scheduled return dates. We are looking into private options for next year but in the meantime I just don’t know what else to do and I do feel like a crappy parent for not being able to fix this.

I appreciate the kind words from the high school teacher up post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In a surprise announcement Thursday, F.C. City Schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan told an online town hall that the Fairfax Health Department will deploy a “closed pod” to Falls Church Monday to provide doses of the Moderna vaccine to all Falls Church City Schools’ teachers and staff.

Dr. Noonan hailed the decision, saying that once the teachers and staff then receive a second dose a month later, that all City schools’ classrooms could be open for direct teaching by Feb. 22 or 23.

Noonan said he was informed of the new policy early this morning after the health department suffered a crash of its website due to the volume of inquiries today.

Source: https://fcnp.com/2021/01/14/all-f-c-teachers-to-receive-covid-19-vaccine-monday/

Why does Falls Church City get this and not the rest of Fairfax County? It's not fair for the county to treat people who don't even pay taxes there better than our own residents. WTF?

Falls Church is an independent city on the borders of Fairfax County and Arlington County. It's very small (only one high school), so they can do things much more nimbly than Fairfax. However, if Fairfax weren't so concerned about keeping everything equitable, and instead focused on letting each district within Fairfax manage itself, it could do better. The bigger the bureaucracy, the slower (and worse).

Good for them. They've been impressive. I never realized how dysfunctional and inefficient and irrational FCPS leadership was (including the school board members and Gatehouse people) until covid hit and we got to experience the mess of what FCPS has done so far re reopening plans. I'm at a point I might consider moving to the city of FC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could we please all be a bit more patient about opening schools if it will AT THE VERY LEAST keep staff snd faculty from getting sick? New studies regarding community spread in Britain actually show schools are a contributing factor and are the reason folks across the pond are doing so badly.

Sorry, but some of us who have been working in person throughout the pandemic (and paying to send our elementary school children to attempt to do virtual « «learning » in childcare facilities where lower paid staff take on a greater risk of exposure) are struggling to understand why teachers could not be asked to teach in person last Fall.

A study out of Canada shows schools opening as a direct driver of recent surges in those communities. I think it’s also important to think as a parent what the value of in person learning is. Is it the being there in person or in person instruction? Schools in the Midwest and south that decided they were opening no matter what this fall are having significant staffing issues. While a sub can babysit a class they aren’t often qualified teachers. I worry next year my kids schools will struggle to retain good teachers. Returning to subpar instruction just doesn’t seem like the best bet. I mean there are no good answers or solutions to any of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is very large. Stop comparing to tiny districts. The sign up for FCPS is 4 weeks and other groups are also scheduling appts. I would predict Groups 1-6 going back before SB and 7-8 after spring break. Just be happy that vaccinations are happening.

Off topic and not a popular talking point, but FCPS should have vaccinated the teachers going in the buildings first (special education, ELL, K) and then gone from there.

That is how it's scheduled. They sent us an email based on who's going into the building first, next and then last; and we were supposed to sign up for our vaccines accordingly.

“Supposed to” is the key phrase here unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I have young learners in FCCPS. We are desperate to get back to school. Every week matters. No, I am not okay waiting for just a 'few more weeks' for everyone to be vaccinated b/c 1) I don't believe it really would be just a few more weeks- It's 28 days from first shot (this Monday) to the second shot. That means the earliest FCCPS teachers are getting the second shot is Feb 15th. And so if we are waiting for that to kick in fully, we are looking at Feb 22nd at the earliest. AND and this is a big and, that assumes that everything goes smoothly on Monday and the 2nd doses are available right on time.
2) We were told at the end of the summer that 'give us a few weeks to get things together...' then 'we'll go virtual week after thanksgiving...' it keeps on getting pushed back. No more excuses.
3) our rates are simply not increasing. They are stable/ declining.
4) IF there really is a new variant coming that is going to shut us down again, we need to push even harder to get some in person learning in.
I have been crazy careful. I have followed Dr. Noonan's directions about mask wearing, not going to indoor gatherings, social distancing, etc to the nth degree. I have 'done my part to stop the spread.' My kids need to be back in school now.

I am also an FCCPS parent of 2 early elem kids and I can co-sign on this. We have done our part too. We haven’t participated in indoor gatherings and have been hunkered down with just our family in the hopes of getting our kids back in school. It has been brutal and they are a full grade level behind at this point. My spouse is in a deep depression that required hospitalization. My oldest child is being evaluated for depression and anxiety. All of it is COVID related. We just can’t continue on like this. There is a way to get kids in school safely and now we have the vaccine on top of this. We are grateful to Noonan for his dedication. It’s because of him that teachers are getting the Moderna vaccine on Monday.

[Anonymous]

FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

[Anonymous]

19:14 here again. I also know staff that choose not to go to the high school for Moderna and they registered through INOVA for the Pfizer vaccine. They also said it was well run and easy with an appointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

He’s been saying for weeks what the metrics are to return. There are currently 7 days where the PCR rate is Yellow/below 8%. If this keeps going, then they return. Uneasy or not, it’s been clearly stated the criteria for going back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

He’s been saying for weeks what the metrics are to return. There are currently 7 days where the PCR rate is Yellow/below 8%. If this keeps going, then they return. Uneasy or not, it’s been clearly stated the criteria for going back.

Are they going to institute weekly testing (of everyone)? That would be a good measure to add to make people feel safer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

He’s been saying for weeks what the metrics are to return. There are currently 7 days where the PCR rate is Yellow/below 8%. If this keeps going, then they return. Uneasy or not, it’s been clearly stated the criteria for going back.

Yes. Staff understand the metrics and that we are returning. In our conversations, we question his judgment and his ability to keep students and staff safe. No one thinks he will change his mind. We have the right to be uneasy. Positivity rates are high everywhere outside of FCC. If we become sick, substitutes will be a problem. I haven’t heard of a single teacher say they will not return when asked. We are concerned we will not be able to stay if we start getting sick if forced to come before we have immunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS teachers: how did it go yesterday? I haven’t heard anything. Hope it went well!

- an FCCPS parent

It went well. Any of us who signed up received the vaccine. It was well run by the health department.

Noonan told us today he plans on bringing back all students next week. Teachers are very uneasy about this because we will not have our second dose until at least 2/15. We have not been told if it has been scheduled. We are very worried about our health and our families. Noonan keeps telling everyone how good the COVID numbers are trending. Everyone knows this isn’t true and while we are happy we have the 1st dose and want to get back to school and normal life, we feel this is rushed without fully thinking about consequences.

He’s been saying for weeks what the metrics are to return. There are currently 7 days where the PCR rate is Yellow/below 8%. If this keeps going, then they return. Uneasy or not, it’s been clearly stated the criteria for going back.

Are they going to institute weekly testing (of everyone)? That would be a good measure to add to make people feel safer.

No. They are not.