How can we force our school to reopen?

[Anonymous]

Bowser will be remembered as the mayor who banned kids from school, even when hardly anyone had coronavirus. She will be remembered as the anti-education mayor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is filing a lawsuit our only option? Looking for options, ideas.

At this rate, DC is going to be the last place in America to reopen schools even as we have among the smallest coronavirus caseloads in the country.

Back to OPs original question, I too would like to know what realistic options are. I feel so helpless. Voting Bowser out
is not a solution for the immediate future. What are the options for parents to make their voices heard in a unified manner?

Maybe someone could create an online petition and circulate it? I'd sign it.

Like the one sent around in July that had 80 signatures?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are tons of lawsuits around the country on this. Some are parents trying to force schools to open. Some are teachers trying to force schools to close.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/08/21/covid-19-school-reopening-battle-moves-to-the.html

Yes, but the PP claimed that lawsuits had "worked," presumably meaning forced a district to open against its will. That lawsuits have been filed is a very different thing.

We have friends (not in the DMV) whose school opened against its will in order to make a lawsuit go away.

Uh huh. That totally happened. Because major cities are worried about defending whiny parent lawsuits. By all means, name the jurisdiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I find maddening is that the Mayor and the DCPS administrators can be so slack and so incompetent and so seemingly unconcerned, and we’re just stuck with the pathetic results.

We are considering moving out of DC for the first time ever.

Okay?

Good luck finding a school system in America that isn't shut down every other week because of Covid. Maybe a two - three hour trafficless drive in a super rural community would be your best bet. But don't get sick out there! The hospitals are even further away.

Liar. Just picking up kids from IN PERSON school. Week 8 now, no outbreaks.

In a wealthy Midwest suburb.

Why are you posting on a DC public schools board?? What’s the suburb?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is filing a lawsuit our only option? Looking for options, ideas.

At this rate, DC is going to be the last place in America to reopen schools even as we have among the smallest coronavirus caseloads in the country.

Back to OPs original question, I too would like to know what realistic options are. I feel so helpless. Voting Bowser out
is not a solution for the immediate future. What are the options for parents to make their voices heard in a unified manner?

Maybe someone could create an online petition and circulate it? I'd sign it.

Like the one sent around in July that had 80 signatures?

80 whole signatures!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bowser will be remembered as the mayor who banned kids from school, even when hardly anyone had coronavirus. She will be remembered as the anti-education mayor.

I don’t think her new consulting firm coworkers will care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think a lawsuit is the way to go. Something like an open letter to Bowser and the Council that is published in the Post and online that is signed by 10 thousand families with students enrolled in that says - You must start prioritizing schools and education. Stop fooling around with bars and indoor dining and concerts. Do the work necessary and dedicate the funding necessary to meet the needs of our students.

I wish the editorial board of the Post would do that on their own.

I would not include a list of demands like the WTU keeps putting out there because it's very divisive and not productive.

The WTU's list of demands is designed to be impossible to meet so schools will stay closed. The last thing WTU wants is for schools to reopen.

They don’t need WTU’s permission to reopen. They may want their support but schools can open with or without union support. Teachers legally can’t strike so they would have to come back, take leave, or quit. So again, there’s the problem—staff entitled to make their own decisions using their legal provided leave.

Teachers need approval to take annual leave unless they're on FMLA, right? Even in regular times, teachers can't just say they're going on vacation for 3 weeks during the school year? How does their sick leave work? Do they need to provide medical documentation after x amount of days?

This is correct. I’m a teacher who has qualified for FMLA and will be on leave regardless of whether we return to in person or not. If I didn’t have a reason to take leave, I couldn’t just take sick days as after 3 days I would need a doctor’s note and potentially be required to use FMLA. I may be able to take an unpaid leave of absence with no job protection. Without an eligible reason to take leave I would have to show up or quit. The union can’t do anything about that. So if DCPS wants to open they can, they just need staff to do it. If staff take leave and/or quit, that limits the options DCPS has for returning students. There aren’t many qualified people to hire to fill spots. Think about how many teachers it takes being out on leave before you can’t staff a building...7-8?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have family elsewhere whose kids have been in school every day for going on two months now. It's turned out to not be a big deal.

In DC, the teachers union won't let schools open until everyone is vaccinated, which probably won't happen until the end of next year (in the past couple days, two major vaccine trials have been halted because of safety concerns).

Schools in DC are going to end up being closed for more than a year longer than in other parts of the country. Your public school child is probably going to be in school for a full year less than a child of the same age living somewhere else in the country.

DC kids are fkced. Thanks teachers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lawsuit will not open the schools. You can't "force" the schools to reopen. If you want them to reopen, contact the DC government and push them to accelerate the necessary upgrades to school HVAC systems, develop a plan for surveillance testing, explain the rules for how they will handle kids getting sick during the day, a student or teacher testing positive, a student's family member testing positive, a plan for the necessary supplies, etc. Suing the district won't help. Pushing the politicians will.

+1

I really want schools open but it won't happen until they actually put a viable plan for reopening in place. Right now their plan seems to be "Make it seem like we want to open schools, then blame teachers when it doesn't happen, thus avoiding any liability issues around Covid outbreaks in schools."

We need to hold elected officials accountable. I sincerely wish it were a mayoral election year because I am DONE with Bowser.

+2

It’s a really impressive trick that Bowser has managed to deflect attention from her total lack of leadership and accountability here. Bring the relevant parties to the table. Don’t send surveys. Don’t issue half-assed plans and then blame teachers, principals, parents, and staff—the very people you didn’t engage in developing the plans—when they point out the massive flaws.

Also...remind me again why restaurants are open for indoor dining and we’re piloting indoor concerts before schools are open?

This. She's got everyone blaming the teachers. If she had put forward a real plan, she might get some traction with that with me, but she hasn't. They put out PowerPoint slides and generic bullet points and then act surprised when the people who would have to implement them point out the holes and problems. Their half-assedness about this is infuriating.

Teachers are 100 percent the reason schools are closed. It's very Orwellian how teachers pretend they have nothing to do with this. Talk about gaslighting.

HOW MANY TEACHERS CAN SHOW UP? It's like people here can't think critically.

Has Bowser released how many teachers have taken leave, or have a valid reason they cannot teach in person?

Seriously...maybe we just don't have enough fairly young and healthy teachers...

[Anonymous]

So it sounds like there is no chance of non-risk kids getting back into schools before the third term in early Feb. My kids teacher said the announcement from the mayor to open schools was a total surprise and no one in the Union or principals knew it was coming. There is a not of scrambling now. Seems like of pontless for 11 kids only per grade to come back.

[Anonymous]

Schools have been open in some states since August. So far, there is very little evidence of coronavirus spreading in schools.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is filing a lawsuit our only option? Looking for options, ideas.

At this rate, DC is going to be the last place in America to reopen schools even as we have among the smallest coronavirus caseloads in the country.

Back to OPs original question, I too would like to know what realistic options are. I feel so helpless. Voting Bowser out
is not a solution for the immediate future. What are the options for parents to make their voices heard in a unified manner?

It's very demoralizing. It's like our teachers and our elected officials are conspiring against our children.

Not really. It's like we live in a capitalist society run by corporations.

Now isn't this the truth. Trying to blame teachers...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think a lawsuit is the way to go. Something like an open letter to Bowser and the Council that is published in the Post and online that is signed by 10 thousand families with students enrolled in that says - You must start prioritizing schools and education. Stop fooling around with bars and indoor dining and concerts. Do the work necessary and dedicate the funding necessary to meet the needs of our students.

I wish the editorial board of the Post would do that on their own.

I would not include a list of demands like the WTU keeps putting out there because it's very divisive and not productive.

The WTU's list of demands is designed to be impossible to meet so schools will stay closed. The last thing WTU wants is for schools to reopen.

They don’t need WTU’s permission to reopen. They may want their support but schools can open with or without union support. Teachers legally can’t strike so they would have to come back, take leave, or quit. So again, there’s the problem—staff entitled to make their own decisions using their legal provided leave.

Teachers need approval to take annual leave unless they're on FMLA, right? Even in regular times, teachers can't just say they're going on vacation for 3 weeks during the school year? How does their sick leave work? Do they need to provide medical documentation after x amount of days?

We don't have to take leave, there are plenty of families at every school who want DL. SO DCPS is trying to match those families to their school. But the issues is what if there's more people qualified for teaching DL than there are students??

You can't just say 'Nancy's diabetes is more of a concern than your husband's Jane.' It's not live every case will be obesity vs. cancer.

You could just not make DL a possibility for anyone but after teachers take their leave and use that all up for weeks, because they'd qualify for FMLA which I think is like 3 months, they'll just quit.

Then we'll have what 40-60% of teachers left? Ok, good luck having in person AFTER the pandemic then...especially high needs teachers like special education, math, and science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lawsuit will not open the schools. You can't "force" the schools to reopen. If you want them to reopen, contact the DC government and push them to accelerate the necessary upgrades to school HVAC systems, develop a plan for surveillance testing, explain the rules for how they will handle kids getting sick during the day, a student or teacher testing positive, a student's family member testing positive, a plan for the necessary supplies, etc. Suing the district won't help. Pushing the politicians will.

+1

I really want schools open but it won't happen until they actually put a viable plan for reopening in place. Right now their plan seems to be "Make it seem like we want to open schools, then blame teachers when it doesn't happen, thus avoiding any liability issues around Covid outbreaks in schools."

We need to hold elected officials accountable. I sincerely wish it were a mayoral election year because I am DONE with Bowser.

+2

It’s a really impressive trick that Bowser has managed to deflect attention from her total lack of leadership and accountability here. Bring the relevant parties to the table. Don’t send surveys. Don’t issue half-assed plans and then blame teachers, principals, parents, and staff—the very people you didn’t engage in developing the plans—when they point out the massive flaws.

Also...remind me again why restaurants are open for indoor dining and we’re piloting indoor concerts before schools are open?

This. She's got everyone blaming the teachers. If she had put forward a real plan, she might get some traction with that with me, but she hasn't. They put out PowerPoint slides and generic bullet points and then act surprised when the people who would have to implement them point out the holes and problems. Their half-assedness about this is infuriating.

Teachers are 100 percent the reason schools are closed. It's very Orwellian how teachers pretend they have nothing to do with this. Talk about gaslighting.

HOW MANY TEACHERS CAN SHOW UP? It's like people here can't think critically.

Has Bowser released how many teachers have taken leave, or have a valid reason they cannot teach in person?

Seriously...maybe we just don't have enough fairly young and healthy teachers...

Or maybe teachers should just stop being such selfish crybabies? And just put on a mask and go the fkc to work?

You don't teach your kid to tantrum like this right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is filing a lawsuit our only option? Looking for options, ideas.

At this rate, DC is going to be the last place in America to reopen schools even as we have among the smallest coronavirus caseloads in the country.

Back to OPs original question, I too would like to know what realistic options are. I feel so helpless. Voting Bowser out
is not a solution for the immediate future. What are the options for parents to make their voices heard in a unified manner?

Maybe someone could create an online petition and circulate it? I'd sign it.

Like the one sent around in July that had 80 signatures?

I think more people would sign it now. Also, this is the first that I've heard of a prior petition, so it might not have been circulated very well.