Predictions for full time in person in the Fall please

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03/18/2021 09:53

Subject: Re:Predictions for full time in person in the Fall please

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m interested in understanding the thought process behind those that think that DC will fully open in the fall. I would love to be on that train.

I don't understand why people are so concerned that it WON'T open.

Here are a few of the reasons I'm pretty sanguine about this.
1) The default position for school is in-person; this year and last year were exceptional circumstances. That is still the case, so there's no reason to just assume that they'll be closed unless we hear otherwise.
2) The chancellor specifically issued a correction to that tweet that said they were planning for hybrid learning, even though the tweet was pretty obviously being misread as if he meant they were ONLY planning for hybrid learning; if they weren't planning to be open in person, why would they have bothered cleaning that up?
3) They're already bringing some kids in person now, and many schools seem to have more spots for Q4 this year than they did for Q3. Case counts will be lower in August than they are now, so if you can bring in more kids today, you can certainly bring them in then.
4) It sure seems likely that the CDC will change its guidance on how much distance schools should try to maintain between students, which, in turn, makes it seem likely that D.C.'s health department will change its guidance for OSSE.
5) All the teachers and most parents/grandparents/caregivers will at least have the opportunity to be vaccinated by fall, which should significantly ease some of the concerns parents might have about sending their kids in person.
6) D.C. has already loosened some of the restrictions on mixing cohorts, etc., now, which seems likely to continue.
7) Despite all the fury a lot of my neighbors seem to have about DCPS, it did still start doing in-person school earlier than most suburban jurisdictions -- friends in MCPS just sent their kids back this week, friends in Arlington just earlier this month. So the fact that DCPS has been slower to announce its fall plans doesn't make me panic, especially given that every other school district in the area is aiming for five days a week in person.

Could all that be wrong? Sure. Could the whole situation change completely by August? Of course, that's five months from now. Has the city's communication about a lot of this been lousy? Yes, duh. But I don't see any real reason to look at things today and be angry already that DCPS isn't going to have in-person options for everyone who wants it by the fall, unless you just like wallowing in outrage.

Because even with 3 feet distance we can't fit all kids into classrooms in many places. So they need to remove it entirely, and they have been SO slow on this.

Even now, DC DOH removed cohort limits, but OSSE hasn't issued new guidance on that so schools cannot actually remove cohort limits.

Essentially, stupid bureaucracy can foil anything.

Also, remember that teachers don't work in the summer (that's not a judgment, that's just a fact). So you think we are 5 months away, but in fact we are 2 months away from having a plan for Fall. That is, if teacher input is expected. If teacher input is not sought, I'm sure that any plan that DCPS will come up with and be contested by the WTU, right at the start of the 2021/22 school year.