Fccps will have all students in the buildings by the end of January. Woot woot
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Anonymous
It’s extremely frustrating and the timing is beyond awful. I can’t help but think Noonan is determined to stick with his timeline to bring ALL students back in January and place blame if he can’t. He’s using a select few groups to test out his metrics and mitigation at the worst possible time. I have not heard a huge amount of support for this but he’s forging ahead anyway. Why can’t anyone stop him? |
Anonymous
Because parents kept saying they NEEDED schools open.advocates this round the clock. Every district in this area is moving together. All opening. I don’t want to be glib but, sometimes getting what you wanted isn’t the best thing for you. |
Anonymous
I agree dry run can’t happen for concurrent. But, dry run for having all returning staff teaching out of the building. In FCPS, we apparently have in issue with the schools internet not being able to handle all the teachers streaming at once. FCPS last spring is an excellent example of why load testing is available. Teachers going in one week before kids (a planning day and two class meetings) seems reasonable. There will inevitably be issues during the transition, especially with the tech. It’s better to deal with it before kids get in. If you go in a week prior and the school network can’t handle the load, you end up back at home the rest of the week while they problem solved and don’t have kids sitting there. As a parent, Is be angry if my kid headed back to school for the first day of school and there was a massive network failure due to lack of load testing and failure to vet the stand up process and we ended up in the position where we were last spring in FCPS when it was GO! Never mind. We’ll try next week. |
Anonymous
| If we go in a week prior and the Internet can’t handle the load then guess what - it can’t handle it a week later either. And concurrent won’t work then. The districts had ALL SEMESTER to plan for that. |
Anonymous
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Teachers should go back to the buildings and work from the buildings. It is the best way to move forward to opening schools. Teachers back in the buildings can work out any technical issues, childcare issues, etc. so then it is not a hindrance to getting kids back to school.
Once that is all worked out, then it’s time to start phasing the kids back in. Distance Learning has gone on long enough. The minor risk is worth the benefits to society. |
Anonymous
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I’m a Fed. And there is a piece of this people are missing in the discussion of the DMV’s push to reopen. My agency is massive and employees skew female. And we have been circling for months in an almost entirely telework posture. We are in the same posture in the DMV that we were in March. We are a public contact heavy agency and right now, those positions are trying to work over the phone, but key pieces don’t work. A few people have volunteered to go in and process mail, which is months behind despite us having time sensitive legal deadlines.
And right now, my agency can’t open until schools reopen. Because the reality is they have too many women a s there are too many childcare issues for them to even try. And they are literally saying, once schools reopen, we will start the return to work phase in. In the meantime, we have folks working split shift of 5am to 9am and 4pm to 8pm to deal with DL and childcare. Mind you, I’m not rooting for a fast reopening of the government, because that pushes me back into the office. But the cold, hard reality of having the federal government as the massive local employer is that the needs of the federal government are considered. And the federal government needs DMV schools open. And since Fauci and the CDC say schools should open, it looks bad that May agency can’t process mail from citizens in Texas and provide a response because schools in the DMV aren’t open. Just a different perspective. It’s been ten months. Reopening the economy and the nation has to start somewhere. And it logistically, the schools have to open so that federal agencies can reopen, and federal agencies have to reopen so that various other parts of the economy that rely on some of our services are shutdown right now can reopen. It’s dominos. Schools aren’t open, so agencies aren’t able to do all of their tasks, so some types of Medicaid reimbursements can’t happen, so they are getting backlogged, which is stressing health care providers and hospital, who are already stressed by COVID. Now react this across multiple sectors. Significant portions of the federal government are not fully reopened and are stalled. And ai know you are going to say, well feds should just find other childcare. But the reality is there are too many of us. And then we have to take the leave to which we are entitled for COVID related childcare. And you can’t replace people easily in specialized positions with background check. When background checks are... performed y people who are waiting for schools to reopen. And, of course, our schools also serve a military heavy community. Whose moms can’t quit or take a day off. Understand what is happening in the DMV is much bigger than parents had a temper tantrum and won. We are in a unique position in that people in all 50 states are stuck until our schools reopen. |
Anonymous
Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on what the problem is. But, if we really can’t push kids back in concurrent, we should know that now, before we go through all the planning of putting people back in. |
Anonymous
Exactly. I think this is leading towards a disaster. |
Anonymous
Also a fed. So I get it. But why NOW. It’s not safe now. My agency isn’t mom-heavy and we also perform an in person function. But we are still telework because it’s not safe for us to be back. Wait 2-3 months. None of what you write above is wrong. It’s valid insight. But it doesn’t explain why now is the right time, except that people are fed up. Doesn’t make it safe. |
Anonymous
He shouldn’t be in a position where he is allowed to “experiment” with metrics and mitigation levels. Teachers as test subjects? What a morale booster. What is scary is that you are actually round 2 of the test subjects. The custodial staff might be considered round 1 and look how they fared. It would be great if there were some higher authority to keep such madness in check but I am afraid it is what they might call “turtles all the way UP.” I assume you have the same Public Health head honcho that FCPS does - Dr. Gloria? The one who couldn’t even control a TB outbreak properly in 2013? The one who compared a covid outbreak in a school building to a lead pipe problem in the White House at a recent FCPS school board meeting? I guess you can pray to the very highest authority (unless you are atheist) that Noonan finds common sense or just a base level of humanity quickly. Wait a few months when teachers are (hopefully) vaccinated and/or classes can be held outdoors. |
Anonymous
| Question: what does DMV stand for if not “Department of Motor Vehicles?” |
Anonymous
He is literally following CDC guidance. That's a pretty good 'higher authority". He's also following the governor's guidance. Again "higher authority." He also worked collaboratively with a group of teachers, who all signed the new guidance. I am super impressed by Dr. Noonan. |
Anonymous
DC, MD, VA (DMV) |
Anonymous
Agree 100%. It’s also worth noting, for all the articles about schools reopening and why they should, there has been very little input from custodians, bus drivers, or staff who have been in person working with students this year. That’s a huge red flag. |
Anonymous
DC, MD, VA. It’s the DC area. |