APS: It's too hard to go back 5 days/week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they can't get kids in school five days a week can they at least merge the two classrooms a teacher is supposed to be teaching to at once? That way my kids would have more time with a live teacher.

👋🏼 Hi Glebe parent!

Not PP but my kid is not at Glebe and in K-2 the classes are split due to spacing issues. So kids spend part of the time with teacher, part of the time with an IA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they can't get kids in school five days a week can they at least merge the two classrooms a teacher is supposed to be teaching to at once? That way my kids would have more time with a live teacher.

👋🏼 Hi Glebe parent!

Not PP but my kid is not at Glebe and in K-2 the classes are split due to spacing issues. So kids spend part of the time with teacher, part of the time with an IA.

I have a second grader in the same situation. It’s not good.

[Anonymous]

Why is everyone touting summer school on these threads. It’s not like summer school is available to everyone! You have to meet certain criteria.

I’m so irate about this. It is a lack of planning and forward thinking. The teachers are vaccinated.

[Anonymous]

Can some explain how to make 3ft rule into 5 day school?

You get all 22 kids in class K-2. I guess you can spread 3 ft in every classroom?

But they need 6 ft when they eat lunch. So you are saying they all eat outside, on the ground, in all weather?

Is there anything I’m missing?

Buses you say, just run like normal school, masks and windows will do it (again in all weather?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But hey, the pools are open and working.

Also at a reduced capacity and with Covid protocols. What is your point?

[Anonymous]

My middle schooler is doing just fine with two days back in the building. Parents here need to calm down and deal. Everything has already been stirred up and moved around with sending kids back two days a week. Be happy with that development! What, you want to send kids who knows where for Spring Break and then bring everyone back to school for five days a week?

For pete's sake, there's only like 2 months left to this school year. Please consider whether you need to make a fuss about every single APS development that has occurred this entire year or whether you can sit on your hands for a few minutes without self destructing.

If you will actually self-destruct, then okay please carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No district is doing 5 until fall. Not even the ones doing 4.

Falls Church City. April 6. Feet away from Arlington.

Enough with comparing to the tiny FCC district. Its not a fair comparison.

No it’s not. They’re far more competent and thinking about the kids first.

What are the terms of Duran's contract?? Are we just stuck??

Well, I mean, yes. The people you elected are not required to do what you want them to do. Your chance to replace them will come at election time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they can't get kids in school five days a week can they at least merge the two classrooms a teacher is supposed to be teaching to at once? That way my kids would have more time with a live teacher.

👋🏼 Hi Glebe parent!

Not PP but my kid is not at Glebe and in K-2 the classes are split due to spacing issues. So kids spend part of the time with teacher, part of the time with an IA.

Yup. Also not at Glebe. My kid's kinder teacher is split between two in person classes and one virtual class. 30 minutes with the teacher a day. I really hope the 3 feet spacing means that they can combine the two in person classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can some explain how to make 3ft rule into 5 day school?

You get all 22 kids in class K-2. I guess you can spread 3 ft in every classroom?

But they need 6 ft when they eat lunch. So you are saying they all eat outside, on the ground, in all weather?

Is there anything I’m missing?

Buses you say, just run like normal school, masks and windows will do it (again in all weather?)

3 ft spacing won’t allow 22 kids in most rooms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No district is doing 5 until fall. Not even the ones doing 4.

Falls Church City. April 6. Feet away from Arlington.

Enough with comparing to the tiny FCC district. Its not a fair comparison.

Sure they have less buildings but we have more staff, more principals, more admin, more teachers, who can all be working on this. And is the entire damn state of Florida smaller than us? How about 50% of other districts who are open 5 days a week in this country? Are we bigger than all of them or have some sort of special insurmountable issue that none of them did? We are one of the smaller districts and we still can't get it together. We are one of the most funded districts and we still can't get it together. This is a lack of will, period.

This. 1000%

APS also has tons of resources. Tell us what is needed for tents so we can have school 5 days a week with distanced outdoor lunch on rainy days and they will be funded. The PTAs at the rich schools will cover them. Set up a GoFundMe for any school that can't cover it. I bet they'll be fully funded in two days. Plus there are federal funds. This isn't that hard. Elementary schools should be back 5 days a week after spring break. Seriously.

GoFundMe for the schools whose PTAs can't afford it?! So, the rich folks are fine and can go ahead; but to heck with those who can't afford it? How about those rich PTAs buying the necessities for the schools that can't afford them?

Simmer down! PP is saying, where PTAs cannot afford it, set up a go fund me like they did for the earphones and teacher masks. The “rich” parents will end up paying for it all.

Those headphones were just junk. Massive waste of money. They kick you out if teams when you plug them in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they can't get kids in school five days a week can they at least merge the two classrooms a teacher is supposed to be teaching to at once? That way my kids would have more time with a live teacher.

👋🏼 Hi Glebe parent!

Not PP but my kid is not at Glebe and in K-2 the classes are split due to spacing issues. So kids spend part of the time with teacher, part of the time with an IA.

Yup. Also not at Glebe. My kid's kinder teacher is split between two in person classes and one virtual class. 30 minutes with the teacher a day. I really hope the 3 feet spacing means that they can combine the two in person classes.

Also not at glebe, and my k-er says he spends most of the day with the instructional aide while his teacher is “on the screen”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they can't get kids in school five days a week can they at least merge the two classrooms a teacher is supposed to be teaching to at once? That way my kids would have more time with a live teacher.

👋🏼 Hi Glebe parent!

Not PP but my kid is not at Glebe and in K-2 the classes are split due to spacing issues. So kids spend part of the time with teacher, part of the time with an IA.

Yup. Also not at Glebe. My kid's kinder teacher is split between two in person classes and one virtual class. 30 minutes with the teacher a day. I really hope the 3 feet spacing means that they can combine the two in person classes.

Also not at glebe, and my k-er says he spends most of the day with the instructional aide while his teacher is “on the screen”

Cool.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point, when the teachers are vaccinated, it is criminal to force kids to stay home and stare at iPads all day.

They. Don't. Care. That's pretty much what it boils down to.

They'll be opening up the waitlists and increasing capacity after spring break.

Why are we not moving to the option of 4 days??

Because there is still not enough space in some schools. Cafeteria and classrooms are too small to handle more capacity.

Most elementary are eating outside. Classrooms can handle more capacity with the revised 3ft guidance. They are being lazy because they don't want to deal with the "complicated logistics"...they are not prioritizing education of our students. This is inexcusable when all the other local districts are doing this.

I'm serious - how long are we going to deal with this nonsense from the SB??? What are our options for recourse? I'm livid with the laziness and lack of prioritizing education for our kids.

Right - if we couldn't fit everyone in a classroom at three feet now what will be different in the fall? Also do the kids not have aisles to get out of their desks?? The three feet is nose to nose not edge of desk to edge of desk. How do they move around if we can't do three feet? Are we breaking some sort of fire code?!

I think these decisions are at the discretion of the superintendent, not the SB.

Well considering the SB doesn't vote on ANYTHING, every decision is basically up to the superintendent. Which is why we are here.

Ridiculous. How is this OK????? Our kids are not being prioritized here!! I'm so concerned that he will find a reason to not return to 5 days in the fall. The next few months were the perfect opportunity to work out kinks with having more kids in class at least 4 days. Now we'll have to risk trusting them to figure this out for the fall ??

Right - if we couldn't fit everyone in a classroom at three feet now what will be different in the fall? Also do the kids not have aisles to get out of their desks?? The three feet is nose to nose not edge of desk to edge of desk. How do they move around if we can't do three feet? Are we breaking some sort of fire code?!

It’s not about fitting the desks 🤦‍♀️ Did you listen to the meeting or read the presentation? 4/5 days in persons requires reshuffling of teachers and schedules and classrooms. At the secondary level this is very difficult! Kids just changed teachers in some cases, lucky you if your kid wasn’t impacted. Change them again? It also requires more buses and completely different transportation schedules. Driver went 1 route on T/W and different on TH/F. Now it would be a different route all together and we all know our transportation dept is lacking and we’ve not had enough drivers for years. Also, more air filters are needed to adjust for a larger building population. It goes on and on. I want my kid back in full time too. It just doesn’t make sense to uproot, reshuffle right now.

Mmmk, how about we start with just K-2? Getting everyone back may not be feasible, but surely we could do at least the littlest.

which should be all of elementary not just k-2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point, when the teachers are vaccinated, it is criminal to force kids to stay home and stare at iPads all day.

They. Don't. Care. That's pretty much what it boils down to.

They'll be opening up the waitlists and increasing capacity after spring break.

Why are we not moving to the option of 4 days??

Because there is still not enough space in some schools. Cafeteria and classrooms are too small to handle more capacity.

Most elementary are eating outside. Classrooms can handle more capacity with the revised 3ft guidance. They are being lazy because they don't want to deal with the "complicated logistics"...they are not prioritizing education of our students. This is inexcusable when all the other local districts are doing this.

Remember the guidelines say than 3 feet while in the classroom BUT 6 ft is required anytime the kids are unmasked. In some schools there are 18 to 20 kids per class that chose hybrid. The classrooms cannot accommodate 6 foot spacing while eating unmasked. Nor can the cafeterias handle that spacing.

I'm serious - how long are we going to deal with this nonsense from the SB??? What are our options for recourse? I'm livid with the laziness and lack of prioritizing education for our kids.

Right - if we couldn't fit everyone in a classroom at three feet now what will be different in the fall? Also do the kids not have aisles to get out of their desks?? The three feet is nose to nose not edge of desk to edge of desk. How do they move around if we can't do three feet? Are we breaking some sort of fire code?!

I think these decisions are at the discretion of the superintendent, not the SB.

Well considering the SB doesn't vote on ANYTHING, every decision is basically up to the superintendent. Which is why we are here.

Ridiculous. How is this OK????? Our kids are not being prioritized here!! I'm so concerned that he will find a reason to not return to 5 days in the fall. The next few months were the perfect opportunity to work out kinks with having more kids in class at least 4 days. Now we'll have to risk trusting them to figure this out for the fall ??

Right - if we couldn't fit everyone in a classroom at three feet now what will be different in the fall? Also do the kids not have aisles to get out of their desks?? The three feet is nose to nose not edge of desk to edge of desk. How do they move around if we can't do three feet? Are we breaking some sort of fire code?!

It’s not about fitting the desks 🤦‍♀️ Did you listen to the meeting or read the presentation? 4/5 days in persons requires reshuffling of teachers and schedules and classrooms. At the secondary level this is very difficult! Kids just changed teachers in some cases, lucky you if your kid wasn’t impacted. Change them again? It also requires more buses and completely different transportation schedules. Driver went 1 route on T/W and different on TH/F. Now it would be a different route all together and we all know our transportation dept is lacking and we’ve not had enough drivers for years. Also, more air filters are needed to adjust for a larger building population. It goes on and on. I want my kid back in full time too. It just doesn’t make sense to uproot, reshuffle right now.

Mmmk, how about we start with just K-2? Getting everyone back may not be feasible, but surely we could do at least the littlest.

which should be all of elementary not just k-2

[Anonymous]

^
Remember the guidelines say than 3 feet while in the classroom BUT 6 ft is required anytime the kids are unmasked. In some schools there are 18 to 20 kids per class that chose hybrid. The classrooms cannot accommodate 6 foot spacing while eating unmasked. Nor can the cafeterias handle that spacing. The only way to get around this is to spend money on a large quantity of tents- which are all apparently on back order. Not trying to be negative Nelly but it is a true hurdle