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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NoVa is entering Phase 3 on July 1st. Phase 3 in Virginia means all students are allowed back to school buildings (protection details TBA). MoCo is even in better shape than NoVa.

Fairfax County is offering a choice of 100% distance learning or a hybrid of some in school instruction and some distance learning for the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in favor of taking care of the most vulnerable. Bring back the low income and IEP kids and others identified by staff, spread them out over all the schools and the rest of us somehow manage because we are decent human beings and we take care of the weakest amongst us be they physically at risk of dying of needing extra resources to learn. Accept that maybe our kids won't get every single advantage to which we think they are entitled but they will still be ok and maybe the gift they will get is understanding that we rise or fall together.

I can't believe someone is describing school[u] as "every single advantage to which we think they are entitled."

Kids aren't entitled to school?!

And no, they won't be ok.

They're not getting no school. They just aren't getting the kind of schooling that we would prefer they have. Would you have someone's mother die so Larlo doesn't have to take math twice? I wouldn't but that's just me. There are few character defining moments for a nation. This is one of them. Who will we be? So far, not so good.

Yes, they are. They are getting no school.

As you say, there are some character-defining moments for a nation. This is one of them. Will we be people who open nail salons and force people to keep working at meat-packing plants, but keep schools closed? So far, not so good.

AMEN! And Giants and Costco’s and all the things that the upper middle class and wealthy care about for their convenience. They’ll get the very best distance learning from Sidwell or their live-in nanny. Do you think they care if your average middle class or working class family’s child gets a decent education? No. Of course not. And if the fact that no school = no work for parents, they coulda also care less.

We are an average family and ours are getting a good education. We have always supplemented at home. Try it. I don't shop at Giant or Costco for food as they are crazy expensive. Aldi's is good enough for our family. Use the extra savings to buy workbooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in favor of taking care of the most vulnerable. Bring back the low income and IEP kids and others identified by staff, spread them out over all the schools and the rest of us somehow manage because we are decent human beings and we take care of the weakest amongst us be they physically at risk of dying of needing extra resources to learn. Accept that maybe our kids won't get every single advantage to which we think they are entitled but they will still be ok and maybe the gift they will get is understanding that we rise or fall together.

F u

WoW - it is funny how upsetting you find kindness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in favor of taking care of the most vulnerable. Bring back the low income and IEP kids and others identified by staff, spread them out over all the schools and the rest of us somehow manage because we are decent human beings and we take care of the weakest amongst us be they physically at risk of dying of needing extra resources to learn. Accept that maybe our kids won't get every single advantage to which we think they are entitled but they will still be ok and maybe the gift they will get is understanding that we rise or fall together.

I can't believe someone is describing school[u] as "every single advantage to which we think they are entitled."

Kids aren't entitled to school?!

And no, they won't be ok.

They're not getting no school. They just aren't getting the kind of schooling that we would prefer they have. Would you have someone's mother die so Larlo doesn't have to take math twice? I wouldn't but that's just me. There are few character defining moments for a nation. This is one of them. Who will we be? So far, not so good.

Yes, they are. They are getting no school.

As you say, there are some character-defining moments for a nation. This is one of them. Will we be people who open nail salons and force people to keep working at meat-packing plants, but keep schools closed? So far, not so good.

AMEN! And Giants and Costco’s and all the things that the upper middle class and wealthy care about for their convenience. They’ll get the very best distance learning from Sidwell or their live-in nanny. Do you think they care if your average middle class or working class family’s child gets a decent education? No. Of course not. And if the fact that no school = no work for parents, they coulda also care less.

We are an average family and ours are getting a good education. We have always supplemented at home. Try it. I don't shop at Giant or Costco for food as they are crazy expensive. Aldi's is good enough for our family. Use the extra savings to buy workbooks.

Please. If you think workbooks = a decent education I’ve got a parcel of land to sell you in Alaska. And who cares where you shop? The people at ALDIs also work out of their home to keep people like you comfortable while you give workbooks to your kids and fool yourself into thinking they’re getting a good education through distance “learning.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in favor of taking care of the most vulnerable. Bring back the low income and IEP kids and others identified by staff, spread them out over all the schools and the rest of us somehow manage because we are decent human beings and we take care of the weakest amongst us be they physically at risk of dying of needing extra resources to learn. Accept that maybe our kids won't get every single advantage to which we think they are entitled but they will still be ok and maybe the gift they will get is understanding that we rise or fall together.

F u

WoW - it is funny how upsetting you find kindness.

PP’s response wasn’t appropriate but do you understand that perpetual DL isn’t really an option for many, especially the disadvantaged? It seems like your heart is in the right place but you are considering only the educationally and medically fragile and not the economically or socially disadvantaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will open the schools. There will be outbreaks among students, teachers and staff. They will close the schools.

They will open all of the schools. There will be outbreaks among students, teachers, and staff at some schools. They will close those schools, then re-open them.

I love all these experts.

You don't need to be an expert to see how this is going to go. Americans have demonstrated that they won't have the patience to endure more than a few months of lockdowns. They want to get back to "normal", consequences be damned. That's what's happening in general now. It'll happen with schools in the fall. When the outbreaks start, and kids get a little sick and staff, teachers and parents get very sick, and some of them die, the pendulum will swing in the other direction and schools will close again. Rinse and repeat. Everything is reactionary to whatever sentiment is ascendant at the moment. There is no guiding strategy to get us through this pandemic, which is a failure of leadership at all levels, but starting at the top.

Nobody else did either. The difference is that other countries used the lockdown time to take effective measures. We in the US just wasted ours.

This. I'm from Germany, and I can tell you people there are just as eager to get back to normal as they are here. They also didn't comply with their lockdown any more stringently than people in the DC area. No need to bash Americans for their supposed lack of discipline. It's your government that is the problem, and the general unhealthiness and therefore vulnerability of the population. Germany is also more attentive to scientific findings that kids don't really contribute to the spread of the virus or are at risk from it. Their association of pediatricians made a statement to that effect. That is one reason they are opening schools normally after the summer. It is also possible that they consider education a higher priority. But it's definitely not the case that they are more patient about lockdowns.

[Anonymous]

I didn't read most of the thread, but I saw early on that someone cited Cincinnati Public Schools as one of "lots" of cities planning to go back to normal. This is absolutely not true.

Only one of the five options being considered by Cincinnati Public Schools involves 5 day per weeks of in person instruction. The remaining four options range from 1 to 4 days of in person instruction, depending on grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't read most of the thread, but I saw early on that someone cited Cincinnati Public Schools as one of "lots" of cities planning to go back to normal. This is absolutely not true.

Only one of the five options being considered by Cincinnati Public Schools involves 5 day per weeks of in person instruction. The remaining four options range from 1 to 4 days of in person instruction, depending on grade level.

This is true of many examples of return to school that have been cited here, both domestically and internationally. Not only that, but domestic comparisons are often pointless depending on the size and scope of the school district. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have local (towns and municipalities) based school districts that are smaller and allow greater flexibility that large counties like Montgomery don’t have. For example, these districts rarely close for snow days because they aren’t spread out over a wide geographic area.

Also, people don’t know the details. We have heard that schools in Sweden have been open the entire time, but that isn’t true. Schools weren’t in person for all ages. Or people ignore the significant mitigation measures in place in areas where schools have reopened.

We will see how things played out, but I think that the amount of money invested to obtain infrastructure for distance learning, including Chromebook purchases, pushes districts in the direction of DL. You can’t undo what you have already purchased. If we started fresh, maybe there would be more money for mitigation measures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't read most of the thread, but I saw early on that someone cited Cincinnati Public Schools as one of "lots" of cities planning to go back to normal. This is absolutely not true.

Only one of the five options being considered by Cincinnati Public Schools involves 5 day per weeks of in person instruction. The remaining four options range from 1 to 4 days of in person instruction, depending on grade level.

This is true of many examples of return to school that have been cited here, both domestically and internationally. Not only that, but domestic comparisons are often pointless depending on the size and scope of the school district. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have local (towns and municipalities) based school districts that are smaller and allow greater flexibility that large counties like Montgomery don’t have. For example, these districts rarely close for snow days because they aren’t spread out over a wide geographic area.

Also, people don’t know the details. We have heard that schools in Sweden have been open the entire time, but that isn’t true. Schools weren’t in person for all ages. Or people ignore the significant mitigation measures in place in areas where schools have reopened.

We will see how things played out, but I think that the amount of money invested to obtain infrastructure for distance learning, including Chromebook purchases, pushes districts in the direction of DL. You can’t undo what you have already purchased. If we started fresh, maybe there would be more money for mitigation measures.

The Chromebooks aren't going to go poof and disappear when the kids go back to school.

To say, well, we have to keep doing "distance learning" because we bought all those Chromebooks and otherwise they'd go to waste, would be lunacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't read most of the thread, but I saw early on that someone cited Cincinnati Public Schools as one of "lots" of cities planning to go back to normal. This is absolutely not true.

Only one of the five options being considered by Cincinnati Public Schools involves 5 day per weeks of in person instruction. The remaining four options range from 1 to 4 days of in person instruction, depending on grade level.

This is true of many examples of return to school that have been cited here, both domestically and internationally. Not only that, but domestic comparisons are often pointless depending on the size and scope of the school district. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have local (towns and municipalities) based school districts that are smaller and allow greater flexibility that large counties like Montgomery don’t have. For example, these districts rarely close for snow days because they aren’t spread out over a wide geographic area.

Also, people don’t know the details. We have heard that schools in Sweden have been open the entire time, but that isn’t true. Schools weren’t in person for all ages. Or people ignore the significant mitigation measures in place in areas where schools have reopened.

We will see how things played out, but I think that the amount of money invested to obtain infrastructure for distance learning, including Chromebook purchases, pushes districts in the direction of DL. You can’t undo what you have already purchased. If we started fresh, maybe there would be more money for mitigation measures.

I am not aware of anyone here who has claimed all schools in Sweden remained open. They did keep their primary schools (I believe up to age 11 or so) open normally though, which is what they should do here. Those are the kids who have the most trouble with DL, and who will keep their parents from going back to work.

And it is a sad state of affairs if it is true that purchase decisions made in a panicked rush after schools were suddenly closed should inform our long-term strategy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NoVa is entering Phase 3 on July 1st. Phase 3 in Virginia means all students are allowed back to school buildings (protection details TBA). MoCo is even in better shape than NoVa.

Fairfax County is offering a choice of 100% distance learning or a hybrid of some in school instruction and some distance learning for the fall.

Fairfax County parents have to choose 100% distance learning for next fall or the hybrid plan for next fall by July 10th. Hybrid will include a minimum of 2 days in person and my be more, depending on how many parents choose distance learning for their kids. The more students in distance learning, the more space the kids in the building can spread out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't read most of the thread, but I saw early on that someone cited Cincinnati Public Schools as one of "lots" of cities planning to go back to normal. This is absolutely not true.

Only one of the five options being considered by Cincinnati Public Schools involves 5 day per weeks of in person instruction. The remaining four options range from 1 to 4 days of in person instruction, depending on grade level.

This is true of many examples of return to school that have been cited here, both domestically and internationally. Not only that, but domestic comparisons are often pointless depending on the size and scope of the school district. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have local (towns and municipalities) based school districts that are smaller and allow greater flexibility that large counties like Montgomery don’t have. For example, these districts rarely close for snow days because they aren’t spread out over a wide geographic area.

Also, people don’t know the details. We have heard that schools in Sweden have been open the entire time, but that isn’t true. Schools weren’t in person for all ages. Or people ignore the significant mitigation measures in place in areas where schools have reopened.

We will see how things played out, but I think that the amount of money invested to obtain infrastructure for distance learning, including Chromebook purchases, pushes districts in the direction of DL. You can’t undo what you have already purchased. If we started fresh, maybe there would be more money for mitigation measures.

I am not aware of anyone here who has claimed all schools in Sweden remained open. They did keep their primary schools (I believe up to age 11 or so) open normally though, which is what they should do here. Those are the kids who have the most trouble with DL, and who will keep their parents from going back to work.

And it is a sad state of affairs if it is true that purchase decisions made in a panicked rush after schools were suddenly closed should inform our long-term strategy.

PP here. I agree with you about lower grades (even though I don’t have kids in that demographic). If budget is an issue, I think we should focus on getting those kids back to school as safely as possible. That has to be the priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NoVa is entering Phase 3 on July 1st. Phase 3 in Virginia means all students are allowed back to school buildings (protection details TBA). MoCo is even in better shape than NoVa.

Fairfax County is offering a choice of 100% distance learning or a hybrid of some in school instruction and some distance learning for the fall.

Fairfax County parents have to choose 100% distance learning for next fall or the hybrid plan for next fall by July 10th. Hybrid will include a minimum of 2 days in person and my be more, depending on how many parents choose distance learning for their kids. The more students in distance learning, the more space the kids in the building can spread out.

Can you change you mind or will you be stuck with the decision for the whole year? I was just wondering if they addressed this - say in case things get better or worse with the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will open the schools. There will be outbreaks among students, teachers and staff. They will close the schools.

They will open all of the schools. There will be outbreaks among students, teachers, and staff at some schools. They will close those schools, then re-open them.

I love all these experts.

You don't need to be an expert to see how this is going to go. Americans have demonstrated that they won't have the patience to endure more than a few months of lockdowns. They want to get back to "normal", consequences be damned. That's what's happening in general now. It'll happen with schools in the fall. When the outbreaks start, and kids get a little sick and staff, teachers and parents get very sick, and some of them die, the pendulum will swing in the other direction and schools will close again. Rinse and repeat. Everything is reactionary to whatever sentiment is ascendant at the moment. There is no guiding strategy to get us through this pandemic, which is a failure of leadership at all levels, but starting at the top.

Nobody else did either. The difference is that other countries used the lockdown time to take effective measures. We in the US just wasted ours.

This. I'm from Germany, and I can tell you people there are just as eager to get back to normal as they are here. They also didn't comply with their lockdown any more stringently than people in the DC area. No need to bash Americans for their supposed lack of discipline. It's your government that is the problem, and the general unhealthiness and therefore vulnerability of the population. Germany is also more attentive to scientific findings that kids don't really contribute to the spread of the virus or are at risk from it. Their association of pediatricians made a statement to that effect. That is one reason they are opening schools normally after the summer. It is also possible that they consider education a higher priority. But it's definitely not the case that they are more patient about lockdowns.

Why school is lower priority in US? Why? Extremely frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why school is lower priority in US? Why? Extremely frustrating.

Why are guns a higher priority? Why is national social health insurance, which Germany has had since 1883, considered socialism? Why are US public transportation systems all so lousy? I blame the Puritans and slavery, but there other possible reasons as well.