schools closed for end of academic year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was watching the press conference but had to drop - there was a report the Superintendent was waving around. Does that contain the information about school not coming back until MD reaches Stage 3? Anyone know where we can find that report?

Did she actually say anything about phase 3? Phase 3 is all undefined anyway. Just like the rest of it. I’m guessing they start rushing the phases as people get tired of this. They’re already starting to.

The report hasn't been posted yet. Hopefully in the next day or two. Hogan is following Hopkins' 3 phase guidance (https://governor.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MD_Strong.pdf) which states that schools can start to open during Phase II but with physical distancing limitations.

Phase III is outlined in this document as looking forward to a time when a vaccine is available. WTF?! Did they really say phase 3 in the press conference?

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2020/200417-reopening-guidance-governors.pdf

PP advice again - this doc on page 10 outlines in more detail: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/National-Coronavirus-Response-a-Road-Map-to-Recovering-2.pdf

That was meant to say PP above not advice. Can anyone clarify exactly what they said about phase III? I missed the press conference.

I re-listened to the press conference. She said that schools will not reopen fully, e.g., resume normal operations, until Phase III. The report that she mentioned gives guidelines for alternative schedules, online delivery, only certain students returning, etc. that would happen in Phase II.

Regarding specifics for Phase III, all published reports/guidance for governors assume this is when a vaccine is available.

No. Phase III is when treatment or vaccine is available. Right now, we have Remdesivir approved by FDA (but we still need to see more results). Plasma treatment give very good results in Europe. I bet, in a couple of months, we'll have effective treatment options, and mortality rate will be way down. That would lead to Phase III

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks! I knew kids won’t get to go back to finish off the school year but it makes me so sad!☹️
On top of that the uncertainty of having school in the fall is just too much.. I feel bad for my kids in elementary school. They can’t learn on zoom, especially Kindergarten kids

I have a kindergartener. It's not ideal but okay overall. I always felt like older kids had it worse because stakes are not as high for the K kids.

Let’s just remove that uncertainty and say we won’t be opening schools until Jan 2021 at the earliest and started really cultivating online learning.

Zoom classes are kind of lame, but one on one with zoom could be pretty good, and since teachers don’t have to do a lot of the administrative and discipline for the class, and can focus on just instruction, maybe that could work out to individual instruction time 2-4 times a week with EACH student. On top of group lessons/lectures to give broad introductions.

That would be nice-- but teachers have too many students. It would be like a quick parent teacher meeting of 10-15 with nothing accomplished.

So lets say teachers have 10 hrs a week for planning and grading, which I think is what the usually have when in school.

So 30 hours of instruction, for 25 students. 1 hr a day of group instruction. Then 2 30-min sessions PER child, or even 4 30-min session for 2 child small groups per week.

You are underestimating grading and planning, especially grading. I would say 15-20 hrs per week if truly grading/providing feedback for 25 kids at least older ES, MS and HS kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:





My child with an IEP is doing much better with distance learning.

In fact, all my kids from elementary to high school are happy at home and more productive.






Please don’t generalize.

Dont use your anecdotes as useful data points for larger policies

I am rebutting other posters on this thread who talk about kids with IEPs as if they were a homogeneous block all needing in-person schooling.
I am not even sure these people have kids with special needs themselves! They are just pushing their own agenda.
In that context, it is important to understand that some families have the opposite experience.
Point is: You do not speak for my son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was watching the press conference but had to drop - there was a report the Superintendent was waving around. Does that contain the information about school not coming back until MD reaches Stage 3? Anyone know where we can find that report?

Did she actually say anything about phase 3? Phase 3 is all undefined anyway. Just like the rest of it. I’m guessing they start rushing the phases as people get tired of this. They’re already starting to.

The report hasn't been posted yet. Hopefully in the next day or two. Hogan is following Hopkins' 3 phase guidance (https://governor.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MD_Strong.pdf) which states that schools can start to open during Phase II but with physical distancing limitations.

Phase III is outlined in this document as looking forward to a time when a vaccine is available. WTF?! Did they really say phase 3 in the press conference?

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2020/200417-reopening-guidance-governors.pdf

PP advice again - this doc on page 10 outlines in more detail: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/National-Coronavirus-Response-a-Road-Map-to-Recovering-2.pdf

That was meant to say PP above not advice. Can anyone clarify exactly what they said about phase III? I missed the press conference.

I re-listened to the press conference. She said that schools will not reopen fully, e.g., resume normal operations, until Phase III. The report that she mentioned gives guidelines for alternative schedules, online delivery, only certain students returning, etc. that would happen in Phase II.

Regarding specifics for Phase III, all published reports/guidance for governors assume this is when a vaccine is available.

No. Phase III is when treatment or vaccine is available. Right now, we have Remdesivir approved by FDA (but we still need to see more results). Plasma treatment give very good results in Europe. I bet, in a couple of months, we'll have effective treatment options, and mortality rate will be way down. That would lead to Phase III

yes, I should have included treatment. I hope this happens soon too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sucks! I knew kids won’t get to go back to finish off the school year but it makes me so sad!☹️
On top of that the uncertainty of having school in the fall is just too much.. I feel bad for my kids in elementary school. They can’t learn on zoom, especially Kindergarten kids

Who are you people who actually thought there was a possibility of schools opening up? Have you been watching the news and paying attention to other school districts?

I do think you need to come to terms with the situation for yourself and for your kids.

Schools are not going to open until January 2021, at the earliest. Be prepared to adjust to that reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks! I knew kids won’t get to go back to finish off the school year but it makes me so sad!☹️
On top of that the uncertainty of having school in the fall is just too much.. I feel bad for my kids in elementary school. They can’t learn on zoom, especially Kindergarten kids

Who are you people who actually thought there was a possibility of schools opening up? Have you been watching the news and paying attention to other school districts?

I do think you need to come to terms with the situation for yourself and for your kids.

Schools are not going to open until January 2021, at the earliest. Be prepared to adjust to that reality.

So what are teachers gonna do, stay at home and get paid? Will the furlough some? what about aides and bus drivers clearly not needed? Will they be paid the same salary, are they gonna be hiring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks! I knew kids won’t get to go back to finish off the school year but it makes me so sad!☹️
On top of that the uncertainty of having school in the fall is just too much.. I feel bad for my kids in elementary school. They can’t learn on zoom, especially Kindergarten kids

Who are you people who actually thought there was a possibility of schools opening up? Have you been watching the news and paying attention to other school districts?

I do think you need to come to terms with the situation for yourself and for your kids.

Schools are not going to open until January 2021, at the earliest. Be prepared to adjust to that reality.

So what are teachers gonna do, stay at home and get paid? Will the furlough some? what about aides and bus drivers clearly not needed? Will they be paid the same salary, are they gonna be hiring?

They shouldn’t be paying bus drivers.

Teachers are still teaching. Teachers will get paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks! I knew kids won’t get to go back to finish off the school year but it makes me so sad!☹️
On top of that the uncertainty of having school in the fall is just too much.. I feel bad for my kids in elementary school. They can’t learn on zoom, especially Kindergarten kids

Who are you people who actually thought there was a possibility of schools opening up? Have you been watching the news and paying attention to other school districts?

I do think you need to come to terms with the situation for yourself and for your kids.

Schools are not going to open until January 2021, at the earliest. Be prepared to adjust to that reality.

+1

It’s not worth even trying to reason with these people. They don’t get it and won’t until it happens.

Good. More time for other families to prepare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks! I knew kids won’t get to go back to finish off the school year but it makes me so sad!☹️
On top of that the uncertainty of having school in the fall is just too much.. I feel bad for my kids in elementary school. They can’t learn on zoom, especially Kindergarten kids

Who are you people who actually thought there was a possibility of schools opening up? Have you been watching the news and paying attention to other school districts?

I do think you need to come to terms with the situation for yourself and for your kids.

Schools are not going to open until January 2021, at the earliest. Be prepared to adjust to that reality.

+1

It’s not worth even trying to reason with these people. They don’t get it and won’t until it happens.

Good. More time for other families to prepare.

To the PP - if your kids are in Kindergarten, just don’t worry about it! They’ll be fine. Read to them at home and work on some Math when you remember. Nothing to stress about!

Other kids ARE actually learning on Zoom. MCPs has done a better job than I expected. The weekly lessons seem to work fine. Zoom has gotten better.

As long as you stay healthy, it’s really not the end of the world. And not a big deal. Things will get back to normal eventually. But be prepared that they will not be normal for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, the whole point of shutting down businesses, schools etc was to prevent a huge backlog of people in the hospitals at a time when we didn't know anything about this virus and how to effectively treat it. The purpose was not to indefinitely prevent people from getting infected. That is not realistic. Sooner or later pretty much everyone will get exposed. Hopefully by fall, we'll be in much better shape in terms of treatment options and partially achieved herd immunity. We can't keep schools closed for a year, that is way over kill.

I’m the biggest skeptic on this whole shut down, but where you lost me was on saying hers immunity. There’s no evidence anyone will develop immunity. I think we should go back cognizant of the risks, because life isn’t pretty and there’s danger always lurking. But don’t assume it will be fine with hers immunity. You’re kidding yourself.

[Anonymous]

Herd not hers ^^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks! I knew kids won’t get to go back to finish off the school year but it makes me so sad!☹️
On top of that the uncertainty of having school in the fall is just too much.. I feel bad for my kids in elementary school. They can’t learn on zoom, especially Kindergarten kids

I have a kindergartener. It's not ideal but okay overall. I always felt like older kids had it worse because stakes are not as high for the K kids.

Let’s just remove that uncertainty and say we won’t be opening schools until Jan 2021 at the earliest and started really cultivating online learning.

Zoom classes are kind of lame, but one on one with zoom could be pretty good, and since teachers don’t have to do a lot of the administrative and discipline for the class, and can focus on just instruction, maybe that could work out to individual instruction time 2-4 times a week with EACH student. On top of group lessons/lectures to give broad introductions.

Online learning could be much better than what it is. But you will not see much support to improve it. Thousands of children could be taught very effectively from the same online learning module with only a small support staff for personalized learning reinforcement. Imagine the teachers union supporting making 90% of teachers obsolete?
And the kicker is a well thought out computerized model would be able to ensure individual students were truly learning and getting individualized feedback vs the cattle chute of learning the students gonthroughbin public schools.

[Anonymous]

so how will social distancing work on the school bus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, the whole point of shutting down businesses, schools etc was to prevent a huge backlog of people in the hospitals at a time when we didn't know anything about this virus and how to effectively treat it. The purpose was not to indefinitely prevent people from getting infected. That is not realistic. Sooner or later pretty much everyone will get exposed. Hopefully by fall, we'll be in much better shape in terms of treatment options and partially achieved herd immunity. We can't keep schools closed for a year, that is way over kill.

I’m the biggest skeptic on this whole shut down, but where you lost me was on saying hers immunity. There’s no evidence anyone will develop immunity. I think we should go back cognizant of the risks, because life isn’t pretty and there’s danger always lurking. But don’t assume it will be fine with hers immunity. You’re kidding yourself.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, fall is not likely. The whole country is opening too soon. People cannot follow basic mask protocol or distancing. We are gonna have a huge, overwhelming surge in cases in June that we won't be able to manage because all the kids who couldn't do group work in high school became adults who can't do group work. When they try to shut back down with the surge, people will rebel because we are a nation of teenagers and it will be longer and more drawn out than it ever needed to be, add in the flu and it is really gonna be a mess.