Teachers not returning. MCPS to hire “Monitors” instead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t people start taking accountability for their lives? Look at what happens when society relies so much on schools to care for children. Wake up people!!!

Do you mean educate children?

Education is happening. People are just sick of their kids. They want the child care part of school back.

We'll see. By the end of the year, they should be able to start meaningfully assess educational outcomes. At that point, we'll be able to evolve beyond the "education is happening, it's just not the education you want" argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is unbelievable and revolting. MCPS has a job posting for monitors for in person teaching. So a monitor (probably a poor minority) will make minimum wage to babysit kids in classrooms so that teachers (mostly upper middle class white people) can work from home virtually. Better yet MCPS isn’t giving these monitors benefits (no health insurance) while teachers (with the best insurance a union can negotiate) sit in the “safety” of their homes. So the monitors assume all of the (minimal according to studies and the CDC) risk of being exposed to Covid so teachers can have zero. MCPS is only requiring a GED for the job. They aren’t even paying the monitors as much as they would a substitute!

This smacks of privilege! Whose idea was this? I can not believe MCPS is doing this. The optics are horrible. Why is a teacher’s life more important than a monitor’s life? And the teachers are getting vaccines while these frontline monitor workers are not! I am appalled!

https://news.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/staff-bulletin/now-hiring-in-school-classroom-monitors/?fbclid=IwAR1xMDbRTNUi2TrlI66IcUU4Z9X_VRhQJ4FXXTHUKDu3ajTs9imYv5y0iSI

Please tell my principal and colleagues that teachers are not returning. We are all under the impression that we are returning unless we have an ADA accommodation or are taking leave. I am currently sitting in a paper gown waiting for a spinal tap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you socially distance 30 kids un one class? You fo t. You solit into two or more. So 1/2 will do dl ftom another classroom since they cant afford to hire double the teachers.

Except there will unlikely be 30 kids in a class to begin with, because only 50% chose the hybrid option, the rest opted to stay DL. Yes this likely varies by school/class but there will not be many scenarios where there would be 30 kids, and with hybrid that would be reduced even further. Have you not been paying attention at all?

And per CDC guidelines, lots of schools will have trouble fitting 15 kids and their desks 6 feet apart with adult supervision in a single room.

They're CDC guidelines, not CDC requirements. CDC themselves advise to do what's feasible for local conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private schools in the area are doing it, too. I saw the listing for Charles E Smith a few weeks ago.

I have kids at a different private school. Teachers who are especially high risk are teaching from home with a monitor in the classroom. There are NOT monitors in all the classrooms. OPs post makes it seem like all teachers will be home and all classes will have monitors- that may not be the case, and that may not be the case at Charles E Smith. At our private, there are still many teachers teaching at school in person, with just some classes having monitors. I think it is nice that they accommodated the teachers that may have been more at risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you socially distance 30 kids un one class? You fo t. You solit into two or more. So 1/2 will do dl ftom another classroom since they cant afford to hire double the teachers.

Except there will unlikely be 30 kids in a class to begin with, because only 50% chose the hybrid option, the rest opted to stay DL. Yes this likely varies by school/class but there will not be many scenarios where there would be 30 kids, and with hybrid that would be reduced even further. Have you not been paying attention at all?

And per CDC guidelines, lots of schools will have trouble fitting 15 kids and their desks 6 feet apart with adult supervision in a single room.

They're CDC guidelines, not CDC requirements. CDC themselves advise to do what's feasible for local conditions.

And MCPS has decided to follow the CDC guidelines which is a completely reasonable thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you socially distance 30 kids un one class? You fo t. You solit into two or more. So 1/2 will do dl ftom another classroom since they cant afford to hire double the teachers.

Except there will unlikely be 30 kids in a class to begin with, because only 50% chose the hybrid option, the rest opted to stay DL. Yes this likely varies by school/class but there will not be many scenarios where there would be 30 kids, and with hybrid that would be reduced even further. Have you not been paying attention at all?

And per CDC guidelines, lots of schools will have trouble fitting 15 kids and their desks 6 feet apart with adult supervision in a single room.

They're CDC guidelines, not CDC requirements. CDC themselves advise to do what's feasible for local conditions.

And MCPS has decided to follow the CDC guidelines which is a completely reasonable thing to do.

No, following CDC guidelines means doing what's feasible. If it's not feasible to have desks 6 feet apart, then you do what is feasible. If you say, "We can't do everything that's in the CDC guidelines, therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home," then you're not following CDC guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you socially distance 30 kids un one class? You fo t. You solit into two or more. So 1/2 will do dl ftom another classroom since they cant afford to hire double the teachers.

Except there will unlikely be 30 kids in a class to begin with, because only 50% chose the hybrid option, the rest opted to stay DL. Yes this likely varies by school/class but there will not be many scenarios where there would be 30 kids, and with hybrid that would be reduced even further. Have you not been paying attention at all?

And per CDC guidelines, lots of schools will have trouble fitting 15 kids and their desks 6 feet apart with adult supervision in a single room.

They're CDC guidelines, not CDC requirements. CDC themselves advise to do what's feasible for local conditions.

And MCPS has decided to follow the CDC guidelines which is a completely reasonable thing to do.

No, following CDC guidelines means doing what's feasible. If it's not feasible to have desks 6 feet apart, then you do what is feasible. If you say, "We can't do everything that's in the CDC guidelines, therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home," then you're not following CDC guidelines.

They're prioritizing safety. They've decided that it's more important to have the students 6 feet apart than it is to have everyone in one room. This is a completely reasonable position to take.

And no one is saying "therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home." Every kid who chooses in-person learning can come back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you socially distance 30 kids un one class? You fo t. You solit into two or more. So 1/2 will do dl ftom another classroom since they cant afford to hire double the teachers.

Except there will unlikely be 30 kids in a class to begin with, because only 50% chose the hybrid option, the rest opted to stay DL. Yes this likely varies by school/class but there will not be many scenarios where there would be 30 kids, and with hybrid that would be reduced even further. Have you not been paying attention at all?

And per CDC guidelines, lots of schools will have trouble fitting 15 kids and their desks 6 feet apart with adult supervision in a single room.

They're CDC guidelines, not CDC requirements. CDC themselves advise to do what's feasible for local conditions.

And MCPS has decided to follow the CDC guidelines which is a completely reasonable thing to do.

No, following CDC guidelines means doing what's feasible. If it's not feasible to have desks 6 feet apart, then you do what is feasible. If you say, "We can't do everything that's in the CDC guidelines, therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home," then you're not following CDC guidelines.

They're prioritizing safety. They've decided that it's more important to have the students 6 feet apart than it is to have everyone in one room. This is a completely reasonable position to take.

And no one is saying "therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home." Every kid who chooses in-person learning can come back.

No, they're not prioritizing "safety". They've chosen to peg their actions to the lowest risks, which is not the same thing.

As for every kid who chooses in-person learning coming back, that depends on how you define in-person learning. I, personally, do not think that Zoom DL in a classroom counts as in-person learning. If you disagree, please explain why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

They're prioritizing safety. They've decided that it's more important to have the students 6 feet apart than it is to have everyone in one room. This is a completely reasonable position to take.

And no one is saying "therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home." Every kid who chooses in-person learning can come back.

DP, and not really. Or, only in a limited way. They're prioritizing safety related to COVID risk for adults only. They're not considering safety of kids in homes, in schools, or their long-term consequences.

We had a PTA meeting this week, during which our principal discussed the reopening plans and said that "safety" is their number one priority. It's such a dodge at this point, and such a failure for our children to continue to focus solely on the safety of teachers to the exclusion of all else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has nothing to do with race. The plan is for teachers to go back but they will need help and the class sizes in person have to stay very low so the only way to do that is split up groups. We have 35 students in our MS classes.

Why is your life more important than a teacher or monitors life? That is the real question. You don't care about either. Monitors will be paraprofessionals who are always under paid.

Right. But that’s why some schools are going hybrid— so half the class can come in the AM and the other half in the PM. Or, half can come on M/Tu and the other half on Th/F. No need for monitors.

Wrong. The plan for hybrid only works with monitors. Too many teachers filed ADA exemptions that must be honored.

Ugh. This is why people are so unhappy with teachers right now.

So thoughtless of teachers to have autoimmune disorders and cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an unfair characterization of what is happening.
1. The school system is trying to bring back every student that elected in-person on the survey.
2. Every school has been evaluated for capacity within social distance guidelines.
3. Maintaining social distance will require fewer students in a classroom than are in a class.
4. Therefore students will be split into different classrooms to keep distance.
5. Teachers cannot be in two places at once. Even if every teacher returns, monitors will be needed.
6. There are equity issues yes of course. But please stop blaming the teachers for everything. Assume that everyone working on this wants the same things to educate children while stopping the spread of the disease.

the other issue is that in order to teach cohorts of 12 kids at a time you would need to put the remaining virtual students into bigger classes and you would end up in some cases with students in groups of 30 or 40. Mcps hired extra monitors not extra teachers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you socially distance 30 kids un one class? You fo t. You solit into two or more. So 1/2 will do dl ftom another classroom since they cant afford to hire double the teachers.

Except there will unlikely be 30 kids in a class to begin with, because only 50% chose the hybrid option, the rest opted to stay DL. Yes this likely varies by school/class but there will not be many scenarios where there would be 30 kids, and with hybrid that would be reduced even further. Have you not been paying attention at all?

And per CDC guidelines, lots of schools will have trouble fitting 15 kids and their desks 6 feet apart with adult supervision in a single room.

They're CDC guidelines, not CDC requirements. CDC themselves advise to do what's feasible for local conditions.

And MCPS has decided to follow the CDC guidelines which is a completely reasonable thing to do.

No, following CDC guidelines means doing what's feasible. If it's not feasible to have desks 6 feet apart, then you do what is feasible. If you say, "We can't do everything that's in the CDC guidelines, therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home," then you're not following CDC guidelines.

They're prioritizing safety. They've decided that it's more important to have the students 6 feet apart than it is to have everyone in one room. This is a completely reasonable position to take.

And no one is saying "therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home." Every kid who chooses in-person learning can come back.

No, they're not prioritizing "safety". They've chosen to peg their actions to the lowest risks, which is not the same thing.

As for every kid who chooses in-person learning coming back, that depends on how you define in-person learning. I, personally, do not think that Zoom DL in a classroom counts as in-person learning. If you disagree, please explain why.

Everyone isn't going to agree with MCPS's decisions. I certainly don't, not all the time. But that's still a reasonable decision to make, even if you don't agree with it.

How you and I define "in person" learning is, frankly, irrelevant, because we're not MCPS. I don't think Zoom DL in a classroom is as good as being taught in person. But our ES has told us that they can't provide true in person learning and keep the kids safe or keep the kids with their teachers, they've explained why, and their explanations make sense. It sucks but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They're prioritizing safety. They've decided that it's more important to have the students 6 feet apart than it is to have everyone in one room. This is a completely reasonable position to take.

And no one is saying "therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home." Every kid who chooses in-person learning can come back.

DP, and not really. Or, only in a limited way. They're prioritizing safety related to COVID risk for adults only. They're not considering safety of kids in homes, in schools, or their long-term consequences.

We had a PTA meeting this week, during which our principal discussed the reopening plans and said that "safety" is their number one priority. It's such a dodge at this point, and such a failure for our children to continue to focus solely on the safety of teachers to the exclusion of all else.

I don't think that's an accurate characterization. I think the issue is that MCPS is defining safety as the risk of exposure to coronavirus in school facilities during school (higher risk = less safe; lower risk = more safe). Which is not how I think MCPS should define safety.

And it's not even risk of exposure to coronavirus in school facilities overall, because otherwise they wouldn't be talking about bringing back school athletics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you socially distance 30 kids un one class? You fo t. You solit into two or more. So 1/2 will do dl ftom another classroom since they cant afford to hire double the teachers.

Except there will unlikely be 30 kids in a class to begin with, because only 50% chose the hybrid option, the rest opted to stay DL. Yes this likely varies by school/class but there will not be many scenarios where there would be 30 kids, and with hybrid that would be reduced even further. Have you not been paying attention at all?

And per CDC guidelines, lots of schools will have trouble fitting 15 kids and their desks 6 feet apart with adult supervision in a single room.

They're CDC guidelines, not CDC requirements. CDC themselves advise to do what's feasible for local conditions.

And MCPS has decided to follow the CDC guidelines which is a completely reasonable thing to do.

No, following CDC guidelines means doing what's feasible. If it's not feasible to have desks 6 feet apart, then you do what is feasible. If you say, "We can't do everything that's in the CDC guidelines, therefore the kids will all stay doing DL at home," then you're not following CDC guidelines.

They are following the guidelines strictly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Everyone isn't going to agree with MCPS's decisions. I certainly don't, not all the time. But that's still a reasonable decision to make, even if you don't agree with it.

How you and I define "in person" learning is, frankly, irrelevant, because we're not MCPS. I don't think Zoom DL in a classroom is as good as being taught in person. But our ES has told us that they can't provide true in person learning and keep the kids safe or keep the kids with their teachers, they've explained why, and their explanations make sense. It sucks but it is what it is.

No, it isn't irrelevant, at least not if you think that wordshave meaning. If you took your car in for service to a mechanic who said they provide transportation, and it turned out to mean they contribute $5 towards an Uber ride, would you say, "*shrug* my opinion is irrelevant because I'm not the mechanic."?