APS - Three cases yesterday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you are seriously outraged by virtual learning having a negative effect on your kids' learning? My bet is that your real gripe is that virtual learning is inconvenient for you.

I'm a mom to 2. Virtual learning is NOT inconvenient for me and HAS had a negative effect on both kids' learning. I am seriously outraged by the amount of dependence APS has put on devices for instruction, assignments, and testing in general. Virtual learning has only magnified that dependence; and I would bet money that it doesn't decrease going forward. It's been a TERRIBLE way to provide instruction for most subjects; but particularly math, science, English, and even PE because there's nothing holding the student accountable for actually doing the physical activity assignments.

I think we should vote per kid; so I count as "2" for seriously outraged by virtual learning's negative effect on learning and NOT being an inconvenience.

NP here. Virtual is extremely inconvenient to me, as a working mom. Is that some terrible thing to admit? Why is it that I'm supposed to work like I don't have kids and parent like I don't work? And never complain? Or expect services for my (not insignificant) tax dollars? Virtual IS inconvenient, and it is extremely frustrating to see neighboring jurisdictions offer four days while we stick with two. Sorry I'm not barefoot and pregnant and full of grace and serenity, available at all times to fill in the gaps when our local government fails us.

Another NP. PP I was with you until your last sentence. The line of people who have been failed by local government or other systems society is supposed to have is very, very long. I would venture to argue I am a SAHP at the present because of the lack of quality child care available where I live. It sucks when systems fail or are inadequate. I'm not saying your frustration about that is unwarranted, but there are just so many broken systems in this country, let alone the world. I think the OP of this sub thread was pointing out that a lot of parents (maybe not you, but a lot of parents) have been complaining all along that the quality of virtual education is very poor, when in reality they just want child care. Wanting or needing child care is a legitimate need, but call it what it is.

[Anonymous]

As much as I want my kid back in school, there are only 5 weeks and the kids have a routine. Can we just focus on fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just a take a moment of silence to reflect on just how bad Duran's decision was not to send kids back for more in person days this year.

- COVID rates are continuing to drop precipitously. Only three cases in Arlington, yesterday, with a very strong downward trend.

- All teachers had the chance to be vaccinated months ago. High risk persons had the opportunity to get vaccinated in March.

- More than half of Arlington adults are vaccinated

- Arlington is hosting walk up vaccine clinics so anyone who wants a vaccine has no excuse. It's also widely available at pharmacies and grocery stores.

- Kids ages 12-15 can now get vaccinated and doses are available. By next week there will be lots of options to get your older kid vaccinated.

- The weather is great for outdoor lunch. And schools haven't been found to be a significant source of transmission. (If anything open schools and close down sports teams.)

Yet APS has decided to keep the same model that was judged appropriate in January. APS isn't offering summer school even to kids with serious need, let alone kids with some learning loss over the past year. Yet APS has decided to squander the last 6-8 weeks of the school year. Those weeks are far more than what is being offered over the summer. They could make a real difference. Shame on you, APS.

I am pleased to meet you OP -- apparently you are able to see into the future, and expect other people like Duran to be able to do the same. Now that I have met someone who was able to successfully predict the status of FDA approval, the levels of acceptance by a particular population of a new vaccine, and the number of cases months in advance, I would love it if you were able to use your superpowers to be able to predict more things so that our community can make perfect decisions about future plans despite lacking information currently. Please tell us the exact enrollment numbers at all grade levels for each school this fall (that seems comparable to being able to foresee some of these other stats you list above). Please also predict for us what major federal initiative will be proposed this fall that will impact next year's proposed budget the most. I'm so grateful that you have elected to share your superior prognostication powers with our community to enable us to plan optimal courses of action from now on.

Meanwhile, the rest of us without the ability to predict the course of this pandemic have instead adjusted our expectations away from what isn't attainable and towards what has been attainable for our kids under rather high levels of uncertainty. BTW it was only LAST WEEK that the WHO and the CDC stated that the major form of transmission for the virus was aerosolized particles. So the entire global scientific community was wrong about the major method of transmission as of two weeks ago. But Duran should have been 'right' several months ago about....everything.

We knew by January that we had at least 2 effective vaccines ramping up production and distribution, that the coronavirus shows strong seasonal characteristics, and that many schools had been in person fall and winter with minimal spread. That information should have been enough to plan for a 4-5 day week to be implemented at some point in the future. APS just chose not to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As much as I want my kid back in school, there are only 5 weeks and the kids have a routine. Can we just focus on fall?

+1

Hopefully APS does a summer reading program for all kids and allows all kids to continue Lexia/Dreambox/Reflex over the summer.

But most of the effort at this point should be on the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just a take a moment of silence to reflect on just how bad Duran's decision was not to send kids back for more in person days this year.

- COVID rates are continuing to drop precipitously. Only three cases in Arlington, yesterday, with a very strong downward trend.

- All teachers had the chance to be vaccinated months ago. High risk persons had the opportunity to get vaccinated in March.

- More than half of Arlington adults are vaccinated

- Arlington is hosting walk up vaccine clinics so anyone who wants a vaccine has no excuse. It's also widely available at pharmacies and grocery stores.

- Kids ages 12-15 can now get vaccinated and doses are available. By next week there will be lots of options to get your older kid vaccinated.

- The weather is great for outdoor lunch. And schools haven't been found to be a significant source of transmission. (If anything open schools and close down sports teams.)

Yet APS has decided to keep the same model that was judged appropriate in January. APS isn't offering summer school even to kids with serious need, let alone kids with some learning loss over the past year. Yet APS has decided to squander the last 6-8 weeks of the school year. Those weeks are far more than what is being offered over the summer. They could make a real difference. Shame on you, APS.

I am pleased to meet you OP -- apparently you are able to see into the future, and expect other people like Duran to be able to do the same. Now that I have met someone who was able to successfully predict the status of FDA approval, the levels of acceptance by a particular population of a new vaccine, and the number of cases months in advance, I would love it if you were able to use your superpowers to be able to predict more things so that our community can make perfect decisions about future plans despite lacking information currently. Please tell us the exact enrollment numbers at all grade levels for each school this fall (that seems comparable to being able to foresee some of these other stats you list above). Please also predict for us what major federal initiative will be proposed this fall that will impact next year's proposed budget the most. I'm so grateful that you have elected to share your superior prognostication powers with our community to enable us to plan optimal courses of action from now on.

Meanwhile, the rest of us without the ability to predict the course of this pandemic have instead adjusted our expectations away from what isn't attainable and towards what has been attainable for our kids under rather high levels of uncertainty. BTW it was only LAST WEEK that the WHO and the CDC stated that the major form of transmission for the virus was aerosolized particles. So the entire global scientific community was wrong about the major method of transmission as of two weeks ago. But Duran should have been 'right' several months ago about....everything.

We knew by January that we had at least 2 effective vaccines ramping up production and distribution, that the coronavirus shows strong seasonal characteristics, and that many schools had been in person fall and winter with minimal spread. That information should have been enough to plan for a 4-5 day week to be implemented at some point in the future. APS just chose not to do it.

And we still had 6' distancing from CDC at that point. With overcrowded schools. How was that going to work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you are seriously outraged by virtual learning having a negative effect on your kids' learning? My bet is that your real gripe is that virtual learning is inconvenient for you.

I'm a mom to 2. Virtual learning is NOT inconvenient for me and HAS had a negative effect on both kids' learning. I am seriously outraged by the amount of dependence APS has put on devices for instruction, assignments, and testing in general. Virtual learning has only magnified that dependence; and I would bet money that it doesn't decrease going forward. It's been a TERRIBLE way to provide instruction for most subjects; but particularly math, science, English, and even PE because there's nothing holding the student accountable for actually doing the physical activity assignments.

I think we should vote per kid; so I count as "2" for seriously outraged by virtual learning's negative effect on learning and NOT being an inconvenience.

NP here. Virtual is extremely inconvenient to me, as a working mom. Is that some terrible thing to admit? Why is it that I'm supposed to work like I don't have kids and parent like I don't work? And never complain? Or expect services for my (not insignificant) tax dollars? Virtual IS inconvenient, and it is extremely frustrating to see neighboring jurisdictions offer four days while we stick with two. Sorry I'm not barefoot and pregnant and full of grace and serenity, available at all times to fill in the gaps when our local government fails us.

I don't get this mentality. We had a global pandemic. It sucked. Our schools had a reasonable response, following CDC guidelines, just like many other school districts across the country.

How is that a "failure" of the local government?

How many school districts across the country are still only offering 2-day a week school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just a take a moment of silence to reflect on just how bad Duran's decision was not to send kids back for more in person days this year.

- COVID rates are continuing to drop precipitously. Only three cases in Arlington, yesterday, with a very strong downward trend.

- All teachers had the chance to be vaccinated months ago. High risk persons had the opportunity to get vaccinated in March.

- More than half of Arlington adults are vaccinated

- Arlington is hosting walk up vaccine clinics so anyone who wants a vaccine has no excuse. It's also widely available at pharmacies and grocery stores.

- Kids ages 12-15 can now get vaccinated and doses are available. By next week there will be lots of options to get your older kid vaccinated.

- The weather is great for outdoor lunch. And schools haven't been found to be a significant source of transmission. (If anything open schools and close down sports teams.)

Yet APS has decided to keep the same model that was judged appropriate in January. APS isn't offering summer school even to kids with serious need, let alone kids with some learning loss over the past year. Yet APS has decided to squander the last 6-8 weeks of the school year. Those weeks are far more than what is being offered over the summer. They could make a real difference. Shame on you, APS.

I am pleased to meet you OP -- apparently you are able to see into the future, and expect other people like Duran to be able to do the same. Now that I have met someone who was able to successfully predict the status of FDA approval, the levels of acceptance by a particular population of a new vaccine, and the number of cases months in advance, I would love it if you were able to use your superpowers to be able to predict more things so that our community can make perfect decisions about future plans despite lacking information currently. Please tell us the exact enrollment numbers at all grade levels for each school this fall (that seems comparable to being able to foresee some of these other stats you list above). Please also predict for us what major federal initiative will be proposed this fall that will impact next year's proposed budget the most. I'm so grateful that you have elected to share your superior prognostication powers with our community to enable us to plan optimal courses of action from now on.

Meanwhile, the rest of us without the ability to predict the course of this pandemic have instead adjusted our expectations away from what isn't attainable and towards what has been attainable for our kids under rather high levels of uncertainty. BTW it was only LAST WEEK that the WHO and the CDC stated that the major form of transmission for the virus was aerosolized particles. So the entire global scientific community was wrong about the major method of transmission as of two weeks ago. But Duran should have been 'right' several months ago about....everything.

We knew by January that we had at least 2 effective vaccines ramping up production and distribution, that the coronavirus shows strong seasonal characteristics, and that many schools had been in person fall and winter with minimal spread. That information should have been enough to plan for a 4-5 day week to be implemented at some point in the future. APS just chose not to do it.

And we still had 6' distancing from CDC at that point. With overcrowded schools. How was that going to work?

A future where cases dropped in the spring and the CDC loosened guidelines was not hard to predict. The actual timing was less predictable, but the outcome was not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As much as I want my kid back in school, there are only 5 weeks and the kids have a routine. Can we just focus on fall?

This. You all are killing yourselves over 10 days. Some of which are early release, some of which are SOLs for grades 3-12, and many of which in a normal year are games and movies and fairly non-academic for all grades. Save your energy for fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t we only have 5 weeks left? I’m already eyeing our local pool. I believe they acted in good faith and felt that switching models again wasn’t worth the disruption.

Agree. And I doubt the media is interested in the fact that kids are going to continue to do hybrid for the last few weeks of school. In the grand scheme of things this certainly nothin to be outraged about.

This. It's a logistical nightmare to change models at this point.

But I agree with you on the summer school. Teachers didn't sign up because they offered them extra pennies. Loudon is paying teachers $70 an hour! That's how you get teachers to staff it. PAY THEM WELL. Not just a few hundred extra bucks. What APS offered in "extra financial incentive" wouldn't even pay for the childcare many teachers need to arrange for their young kids so that they could go to work.

It’s also not true that they aren’t offering it at all as OP implies. It’s reduced from their initial plan due to lack of enough staff but they are still having it.

They are still having it, sort of. I know 3 kids who qualified for summer school because they are not reading on grade level. And they don't have space for them, so it's just "too bad, sorry!".

My kid is fine, but I'd be FURIOUS if my child was behind, qualified for summer school, and then we couldn't go because APS couldn't figure out staffing. PAY THE TEACHERS. Staffing isn't some crazy mystery here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you are seriously outraged by virtual learning having a negative effect on your kids' learning? My bet is that your real gripe is that virtual learning is inconvenient for you.

I'm a mom to 2. Virtual learning is NOT inconvenient for me and HAS had a negative effect on both kids' learning. I am seriously outraged by the amount of dependence APS has put on devices for instruction, assignments, and testing in general. Virtual learning has only magnified that dependence; and I would bet money that it doesn't decrease going forward. It's been a TERRIBLE way to provide instruction for most subjects; but particularly math, science, English, and even PE because there's nothing holding the student accountable for actually doing the physical activity assignments.

I think we should vote per kid; so I count as "2" for seriously outraged by virtual learning's negative effect on learning and NOT being an inconvenience.

NP here. Virtual is extremely inconvenient to me, as a working mom. Is that some terrible thing to admit? Why is it that I'm supposed to work like I don't have kids and parent like I don't work? And never complain? Or expect services for my (not insignificant) tax dollars? Virtual IS inconvenient, and it is extremely frustrating to see neighboring jurisdictions offer four days while we stick with two. Sorry I'm not barefoot and pregnant and full of grace and serenity, available at all times to fill in the gaps when our local government fails us.

I don't get this mentality. We had a global pandemic. It sucked. Our schools had a reasonable response, following CDC guidelines, just like many other school districts across the country.

How is that a "failure" of the local government?

How many school districts across the country are still only offering 2-day a week school?

At least 29% are still hybrid - this doesn't include families who select hybrid when full-time is also offered:
https://info.burbio.com/school-tracker-update-may-10/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just a take a moment of silence to reflect on just how bad Duran's decision was not to send kids back for more in person days this year.

- COVID rates are continuing to drop precipitously. Only three cases in Arlington, yesterday, with a very strong downward trend.

- All teachers had the chance to be vaccinated months ago. High risk persons had the opportunity to get vaccinated in March.

- More than half of Arlington adults are vaccinated

- Arlington is hosting walk up vaccine clinics so anyone who wants a vaccine has no excuse. It's also widely available at pharmacies and grocery stores.

- Kids ages 12-15 can now get vaccinated and doses are available. By next week there will be lots of options to get your older kid vaccinated.

- The weather is great for outdoor lunch. And schools haven't been found to be a significant source of transmission. (If anything open schools and close down sports teams.)

Yet APS has decided to keep the same model that was judged appropriate in January. APS isn't offering summer school even to kids with serious need, let alone kids with some learning loss over the past year. Yet APS has decided to squander the last 6-8 weeks of the school year. Those weeks are far more than what is being offered over the summer. They could make a real difference. Shame on you, APS.

I am pleased to meet you OP -- apparently you are able to see into the future, and expect other people like Duran to be able to do the same. Now that I have met someone who was able to successfully predict the status of FDA approval, the levels of acceptance by a particular population of a new vaccine, and the number of cases months in advance, I would love it if you were able to use your superpowers to be able to predict more things so that our community can make perfect decisions about future plans despite lacking information currently. Please tell us the exact enrollment numbers at all grade levels for each school this fall (that seems comparable to being able to foresee some of these other stats you list above). Please also predict for us what major federal initiative will be proposed this fall that will impact next year's proposed budget the most. I'm so grateful that you have elected to share your superior prognostication powers with our community to enable us to plan optimal courses of action from now on.

Meanwhile, the rest of us without the ability to predict the course of this pandemic have instead adjusted our expectations away from what isn't attainable and towards what has been attainable for our kids under rather high levels of uncertainty. BTW it was only LAST WEEK that the WHO and the CDC stated that the major form of transmission for the virus was aerosolized particles. So the entire global scientific community was wrong about the major method of transmission as of two weeks ago. But Duran should have been 'right' several months ago about....everything.

We knew by January that we had at least 2 effective vaccines ramping up production and distribution, that the coronavirus shows strong seasonal characteristics, and that many schools had been in person fall and winter with minimal spread. That information should have been enough to plan for a 4-5 day week to be implemented at some point in the future. APS just chose not to do it.

And we still had 6' distancing from CDC at that point. With overcrowded schools. How was that going to work?

A future where cases dropped in the spring and the CDC loosened guidelines was not hard to predict. The actual timing was less predictable, but the outcome was not.

Yes, with so much uncertainty, tough decisions had to be made to do the best they could at that time.

[Anonymous]

Looking forward to seeing what the Open Schools Now people will complain about in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking forward to seeing what the Open Schools Now people will complain about in the fall.

Masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking forward to seeing what the Open Schools Now people will complain about in the fall.

Masks.

They aren't waiting until fall to start on that one. I don't think they will ever run out of things to complain about, though. It fuels them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's because I have a little kid, by my kid has been so bored all year and learning very little. She isn't burned out and ready to watch videos. She'd love 5 weeks of in person learning--the more the better. Her best two days of the week are her in person days, and her classroom just sits empty those other three days. It's such a waste.

Isn't there another group of kids going in-person on 2 of the other days? The hybrid plan was for kids in classrooms 4 days a week, 2 groups going on 2 different days.

That's not how it works at our ES, at least. 3-5 is concurrent, so one teacher is teaching both the virtual kids and the hybrid kids. Not sure if the teachers are using the classrooms to teach on the all-virtual days. For the younger grades (my son is in 2nd) they changed the classes so that each teacher is either hybrid or all-virtual. I think on the hybrid days they have the kids in 2 separate classrooms for distancing purposes. So my son's classroom is not being used at all on the days his hybrid class is doing virtual.

My 3rd grader goes T-W, then her class is used by 4th graders on Th-Fri. My kid's class has 24 kids in it... and needs a huge classroom to accommodate. If they're suddenly in a smaller classroom, there wouldn't be even 3-feet between them.
While I hate that they're not in school I believe Duran when he said it would be way too much logistical work to reallocate everything (class, transportation, etc) again. But I don't understand why they didn't at least try to go back to the normal school hours...seems like that was the low-hanging fruit to get kids more education (2:15 vs 3:40, in our case).