Allegedly there are several options for the fall none of which include being back full time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools need to allow the after care providers to supervise online learning in the schools in socially distanced spaces.

I totally understand that some teachers are high risk and shouldn’t return to the classroom. But I worry so much for working families with young students. After care providers can hire college age (low risk) kids to help. we have to find a way to make this work.

I am a "schools need to open" person, but I am nonetheless going to say: I don't think there's a large supply of qualified college-age kids sitting around eager for a few-hours-a-week after-school after-care job.

Ahh ... you might be surprised about that. That age group is in desperate need of work. Could make for a great gap year program too.

The churn on that would be insane. New hires every couple weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools need to allow the after care providers to supervise online learning in the schools in socially distanced spaces.

I totally understand that some teachers are high risk and shouldn’t return to the classroom. But I worry so much for working families with young students. After care providers can hire college age (low risk) kids to help. we have to find a way to make this work.

I am a "schools need to open" person, but I am nonetheless going to say: I don't think there's a large supply of qualified college-age kids sitting around eager for a few-hours-a-week after-school after-care job.

Ahh ... you might be surprised about that. That age group is in desperate need of work. Could make for a great gap year program too.

Two hours a day, five days a week is not a gap year program AND will interfere with many other things they might be doing (other paid employment, classes, etc.).

What other paid employment? Do you think the stores and restaurants are hiring?

They are starting to hire back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Well, they do pretty well as camp counselors. Plenty of trained, out of work camp counselors around looking for work. Of course they don’t have the skills to educate and teach, but they can supervise kids.

I'm an MCPS parent, but I'm feeling a lot of sympathy for the teachers right now. Classroom management is (a) tough (b) an important teaching skill, and here you are, blithely assuring us that a college-aged camp counselor can do it.

Yes, they can if they are the right person and properly trained. Perhaps you never had a child in camp, aftercare, or daycare? At least two in each classroom. They do fine especially if they have small groups (due to social distancing). Again, not teaching, but supervising the synchronous teaching online. Paraeducaters could also do this.

Quite frankly, working families simply need the help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools need to allow the after care providers to supervise online learning in the schools in socially distanced spaces.

I totally understand that some teachers are high risk and shouldn’t return to the classroom. But I worry so much for working families with young students. After care providers can hire college age (low risk) kids to help. we have to find a way to make this work.

I am a "schools need to open" person, but I am nonetheless going to say: I don't think there's a large supply of qualified college-age kids sitting around eager for a few-hours-a-week after-school after-care job.

Ahh ... you might be surprised about that. That age group is in desperate need of work. Could make for a great gap year program too.

The churn on that would be insane. New hires every couple weeks.

Not if it’s an internship or the right program. C’mon people - let’s come up with solutions not stumbling blocks!!! How about student teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools need to allow the after care providers to supervise online learning in the schools in socially distanced spaces.

I totally understand that some teachers are high risk and shouldn’t return to the classroom. But I worry so much for working families with young students. After care providers can hire college age (low risk) kids to help. we have to find a way to make this work.

I am a "schools need to open" person, but I am nonetheless going to say: I don't think there's a large supply of qualified college-age kids sitting around eager for a few-hours-a-week after-school after-care job.

Ahh ... you might be surprised about that. That age group is in desperate need of work. Could make for a great gap year program too.

The churn on that would be insane. New hires every couple weeks.

Not if it’s an internship or the right program. C’mon people - let’s come up with solutions not stumbling blocks!!! How about student teachers?

Universities would have to be willing to set up internship programs since this plan would not fit the current scope. Supervising students doing DL would not fit the clinical experience requirements for student teachers so it would need to be through a different office than the school of education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Well, they do pretty well as camp counselors. Plenty of trained, out of work camp counselors around looking for work. Of course they don’t have the skills to educate and teach, but they can supervise kids.

I'm an MCPS parent, but I'm feeling a lot of sympathy for the teachers right now. Classroom management is (a) tough (b) an important teaching skill, and here you are, blithely assuring us that a college-aged camp counselor can do it.

Yes, they can if they are the right person and properly trained. Perhaps you never had a child in camp, aftercare, or daycare? At least two in each classroom. They do fine especially if they have small groups (due to social distancing). Again, not teaching, but supervising the synchronous teaching online. Paraeducaters could also do this.

Quite frankly, working families simply need the help.

What happens if the students are otherwise obedient, but just refuse to complete assignments. Do you fire Joe and Julie? Require them to get more training?

[Anonymous]

I think something along these lines could work. What if college students took a semester off of college to supervise young learners and in turn the school districts covered their loans for a semester.

[Anonymous]

It’s not just about whether you will have teachers - it is about large numbers of people together in enclosed spaces for hours at a time day after day and their potential impact on the community at large.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Well, they do pretty well as camp counselors. Plenty of trained, out of work camp counselors around looking for work. Of course they don’t have the skills to educate and teach, but they can supervise kids.

I'm an MCPS parent, but I'm feeling a lot of sympathy for the teachers right now. Classroom management is (a) tough (b) an important teaching skill, and here you are, blithely assuring us that a college-aged camp counselor can do it.

Yes, they can if they are the right person and properly trained. Perhaps you never had a child in camp, aftercare, or daycare? At least two in each classroom. They do fine especially if they have small groups (due to social distancing). Again, not teaching, but supervising the synchronous teaching online. Paraeducaters could also do this.

Quite frankly, working families simply need the help.

What happens if the students are otherwise obedient, but just refuse to complete assignments. Do you fire Joe and Julie? Require them to get more training?

I think a lot of kids refused to do the work because they were at home with their parents. Not talking about huge groups of kids - small groups, maintaining social distancing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No inside info, but until there’s a vaccine, 100% back in the classroom will not happen. There’s just not enough space, teachers or busses. No school system was designed to support the constraints that will be in place until a vaccine is widely available.

Sorry to be a down, I just don’t think it’s going to happen.

+1. I recently read the updated MD state superintendent report which analyzed how buses would work w/respect to the CDC guidelines. The conclusion was, that complying with CDC guidelines meant each bus holding 77 students would now only be able to carry 8.

The options for school presented are 1 day/week, 2/day a week or A/B weeks. There is no discussion at all of a full time normal return to school. All of society needs to realize this and adjust accordingly -- it's not just about what parents will do. All businesses and activities that interact with kids or parents of kids (which is basically every place) need to reconfigure to support that.

That means things like -- flexible work policies that include working form home at a vastly extended range of hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No inside info, but until there’s a vaccine, 100% back in the classroom will not happen. There’s just not enough space, teachers or busses. No school system was designed to support the constraints that will be in place until a vaccine is widely available.

Sorry to be a down, I just don’t think it’s going to happen.

+1. I recently read the updated MD state superintendent report which analyzed how buses would work w/respect to the CDC guidelines. The conclusion was, that complying with CDC guidelines meant each bus holding 77 students would now only be able to carry 8.

The options for school presented are 1 day/week, 2/day a week or A/B weeks. There is no discussion at all of a full time normal return to school. All of society needs to realize this and adjust accordingly -- it's not just about what parents will do. All businesses and activities that interact with kids or parents of kids (which is basically every place) need to reconfigure to support that.

That means things like -- flexible work policies that include working form home at a vastly extended range of hours.

The same CDC guidelines that told employers to tell their employees to avoid public transportation and drive themselves to work?

The same CDC guidelines that have not yet been revised to take into account that public transportation is demonstrably safe?

Shields for the bus drivers, open the bus windows, require masks. There, done.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/fear-transit-bad-cities/612979/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just about whether you will have teachers - it is about large numbers of people together in enclosed spaces for hours at a time day after day and their potential impact on the community at large.

How about the potential impact on the community at large of kids missing months or even years of schooling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just about whether you will have teachers - it is about large numbers of people together in enclosed spaces for hours at a time day after day and their potential impact on the community at large.

How about the potential impact on the community at large of kids missing months or even years of schooling?

First of all we are talking about the fall not years. Don't get ahead of yourself. I think that the deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands of people is a pretty big deal but let's say you are cool with old people and at vulnerable people dying. Covid doesn't have just two outcomes, fine or death. There is a large percentage of people who get this who are hospitalized for significant periods of time with this illness and then require additional time to recover. This is a significant expense and it takes a toll on the health care workers and puts them at risk of serious illness and death. Second there is a significant contingent who are not sick enough to go to the hospital but are unable to work for weeks and weeks. Who will care for the children of the parents who are sick? Who will care for the people who are in the hospital? Who will deliver the food? Also since this is a novel virus there is still so much we don't know about it and the potential long term effects of it so I think an abundance of caution is wise. As an adult you have to have lived long enough to know that while this is suboptimal most DCUM kids aren't going to be sign spinners on Rockville Pike because they had online school for multiple semesters. I'd be in favor of something that brings back the most vulnerable kids. The FARMS kids and the IEP kids who truly cannot get by without the in person instruction while the rest stay at home. I'm not saying it isn't hard but what part of a pandemic did you think would be easy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just about whether you will have teachers - it is about large numbers of people together in enclosed spaces for hours at a time day after day and their potential impact on the community at large.

How about the potential impact on the community at large of kids missing months or even years of schooling?

First of all we are talking about the fall not years. Don't get ahead of yourself. I think that the deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands of people is a pretty big deal but let's say you are cool with old people and at vulnerable people dying. Covid doesn't have just two outcomes, fine or death. There is a large percentage of people who get this who are hospitalized for significant periods of time with this illness and then require additional time to recover. This is a significant expense and it takes a toll on the health care workers and puts them at risk of serious illness and death. Second there is a significant contingent who are not sick enough to go to the hospital but are unable to work for weeks and weeks. Who will care for the children of the parents who are sick? Who will care for the people who are in the hospital? Who will deliver the food? Also since this is a novel virus there is still so much we don't know about it and the potential long term effects of it so I think an abundance of caution is wise. As an adult you have to have lived long enough to know that while this is suboptimal most DCUM kids aren't going to be sign spinners on Rockville Pike because they had online school for multiple semesters. I'd be in favor of something that brings back the most vulnerable kids. The FARMS kids and the IEP kids who truly cannot get by without the in person instruction while the rest stay at home. I'm not saying it isn't hard but what part of a pandemic did you think would be easy?

We are potentially talking about years. And kids already missed half of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter. Almost half a year of school, gone.

Everything you say about hospitalization and expense and health care workers and food delivery and clinical unknowns applies to EVERYTHING that is opening. It's completely unconscionable to open everything else but keep schools closed.

And yes, maybe it's hard to figure out how to open the schools, but what part of a pandemic did you think would be easy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just about whether you will have teachers - it is about large numbers of people together in enclosed spaces for hours at a time day after day and their potential impact on the community at large.

How about the potential impact on the community at large of kids missing months or even years of schooling?

First of all we are talking about the fall not years. Don't get ahead of yourself. I think that the deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands of people is a pretty big deal but let's say you are cool with old people and at vulnerable people dying. Covid doesn't have just two outcomes, fine or death. There is a large percentage of people who get this who are hospitalized for significant periods of time with this illness and then require additional time to recover. This is a significant expense and it takes a toll on the health care workers and puts them at risk of serious illness and death. Second there is a significant contingent who are not sick enough to go to the hospital but are unable to work for weeks and weeks. Who will care for the children of the parents who are sick? Who will care for the people who are in the hospital? Who will deliver the food? Also since this is a novel virus there is still so much we don't know about it and the potential long term effects of it so I think an abundance of caution is wise. As an adult you have to have lived long enough to know that while this is suboptimal most DCUM kids aren't going to be sign spinners on Rockville Pike because they had online school for multiple semesters. I'd be in favor of something that brings back the most vulnerable kids. The FARMS kids and the IEP kids who truly cannot get by without the in person instruction while the rest stay at home. I'm not saying it isn't hard but what part of a pandemic did you think would be easy?

We are potentially talking about years. And kids already missed half of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter. Almost half a year of school, gone.

Everything you say about hospitalization and expense and health care workers and food delivery and clinical unknowns applies to EVERYTHING that is opening. It's completely unconscionable to open everything else but keep schools closed.

And yes, maybe it's hard to figure out how to open the schools, but what part of a pandemic did you think would be easy?

This. We MUST be willing to take greater risks to open schools than to open anything else. They must be a priority.