MCPS is closing Wed 11/24, day before Thanksgiving

[Anonymous]

MCPS should hire subs/floating paras full-time or part-time with full benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS should hire subs/floating paras full-time or part-time with full benefits.

It would make sense but they don't want to pay benefits. But, they still wouldn't have enough for Thanksgiving. Having the say off before Thanksgiving is not unreasonable and should have been in the schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS should hire subs/floating paras full-time or part-time with full benefits.

I think that is going to have to be the path forward. There needs to be much more backup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome. Thanks for the last minute notice, yet again, MCPS.

It’s great for us working moms who have to physically go into work.

As always, thanks for the adequate notice so that we can scramble to make arrangements.

It’s two weeks notice.

I’m a dentist. I blocked off the afternoon, knowing that the kids would be off and I could do pick up. Now, with two weeks notice, I have to call and reschedule all the people who took time out of their scheduled to make appointments that morning. Or, I scramble to find a sitter with short notice, just like everyone else who will also need to do so.

They could have decided this at the beginning of the year. Or in October. Two weeks notice is ridiculous.

Don’t you have an office your kids can sit in with an iPad for four hours?

I really find it hard to believe that you have that many dental appointments for the day before Thanksgiving.

Are you kidding? LOL. Our office is booked weeks out. Pretty much any medical provider is booked solid over this past year. Lots of dentists retired and demand for appointments has been up.

Who’s going to pick the kids up from the bus stop and bring them to the office?

PP, for someone who thinks she has all the answers, you’re actually pretty out of touch with reality, aren’t you.

Pssst, school is out. Nobody needs to pick them up from the bus stop

That makes it simpler than the dentist having to leave work for a half day.

[Anonymous]

Retroactive complaining about the union and what happened last year does nothing to solve the current problem. Telling teachers that they suck and are spoiled may make people feel better but it does nothing to alleviate the sub shortage or stop said teachers from quitting, leaving your kid's class with nobody qualified. Instead of rehashing last year, the focus should be on why the staffing shortage is so bad and what to do about it.

A lot of employees are miserable this year and looking to get out. You can blame it on them and tell them they suck and it's their fault for what they "did" to you last year all you want, but that will solve nothing with the retention problem (and probably just exacerbate it) and not do anything to make your kid's school experience better. MCPS has its head in the sand about this among other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today is the day to start booking those high school students for the half day. I’m sure a lot of them would like to make extra cash! College students might also be available. Two weeks is plenty of time to find somebody.

Yeah, that works for me. But might not work for everyone.

I mean, when you work at Target and have a monthly budget to stick to - an additional unexpected expense for a sitter can be a bit stressful.

For all the BS that MCPS likes to talk about ‘equity’, this is surely not something that helps struggling working parents. Though, I guess it’s been clear this past year that MCPS doesn’t care all that much about what happens to our kids.

Do you work at Target and have a tight budget? Do you never get babysitters (we don't - never ever had one)?

Lets be real. Its usually the comfortable families complaining because the ones who are working at Target know this can be an issue and simply figure it out.

Or, if the reason is they cannot get enough subs for the teachers who request off, maybe you can sign up to be a sub and work that day.

DP, and ah, yes, the romanticizing of poverty. "They have it all figured out"--is that how you rationalize this kind of crap? Figuring it out for many families means kids unsupervised. You know that, right?

I am not romanticizing poverty but the ones I know who are complaining about this stuff are the most comfortable and just don't feel like dealing with their kids. There are lots of options. Usually the county also offers a program and they have low income waivers. You probably don't know as you just hire a sitter.

You and others really need to stop acting like these kinds of decisions don't harm disadvantaged families the most, "program" and all. Who cares who's complaining? Just because people aren't complaining on DCUM doesn't mean it's okay.

Stop with the talking point of the disadvantaged families. They aren't complaining. But, you are.

There are many child care options available including KAH and usually the county rec department offers something. County rec has low income waivers. So, stop acting like there aren't options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

NP- Burn out is real is all those professions that you named and the folks responsible for employing them are having to make accommodations and do things in order to keep their employees happy and working. So its not that teachers are more special, its that teachers are the same, everyone takes their job for granted until they throw their hands up and say to hell with it, I’m taking my talents elsewhere. People forget that teachers are parents also. Teachers have lives outside also. So again, its not that teachers view themselves as more special, but that many a parent, especially here on DCUm seems to view themselves and their circumstances as more special.

DP, but I think part of what people are reacting to is that (1) unlike the other areas listed, teachers (at least here) did NOT work in-person for much of the pandemic and (2) parents were given SO little grace around having to work and simultaneously assist their kids with the hell that was Zoom school. So, frankly, there's not much left in the tank, especially not when teachers' unions actively worked to keep remote education as long as it was. I get that teachers are exhausted. We are ALL exhausted. It would have been great if we could have been more understanding a year ago instead of just screaming about how school wasn't daycare and we should watch our own [bleeping] kids.

PP- I hear ya and don’t disagree on the whole. But I think the bolded of your post illustrates exactly what was said in my post, which is that people forget teachers are workers and parents also. Teachers also had to work and simultaneously assist their kids on Zoom or try to find childcare, they weren’t exempt for the struggle. They aren’t exempt from the struggle now. And even states where teachers went back experienced the chaos of quarantines and hybrid teaching and are now dealing with learning loss. Its not sunshine and roses everywhere that teachers went back sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome. Thanks for the last minute notice, yet again, MCPS.

It’s great for us working moms who have to physically go into work.

As always, thanks for the adequate notice so that we can scramble to make arrangements.

It’s two weeks notice.

I’m a dentist. I blocked off the afternoon, knowing that the kids would be off and I could do pick up. Now, with two weeks notice, I have to call and reschedule all the people who took time out of their scheduled to make appointments that morning. Or, I scramble to find a sitter with short notice, just like everyone else who will also need to do so.

They could have decided this at the beginning of the year. Or in October. Two weeks notice is ridiculous.

Don’t you have an office your kids can sit in with an iPad for four hours?

I really find it hard to believe that you have that many dental appointments for the day before Thanksgiving.

Are you kidding? LOL. Our office is booked weeks out. Pretty much any medical provider is booked solid over this past year. Lots of dentists retired and demand for appointments has been up.

Who’s going to pick the kids up from the bus stop and bring them to the office?

PP, for someone who thinks she has all the answers, you’re actually pretty out of touch with reality, aren’t you.

Pssst, school is out. Nobody needs to pick them up from the bus stop

That makes it simpler than the dentist having to leave work for a half day.

Why expect critical thinking from a dentist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

NP- Burn out is real is all those professions that you named and the folks responsible for employing them are having to make accommodations and do things in order to keep their employees happy and working. So its not that teachers are more special, its that teachers are the same, everyone takes their job for granted until they throw their hands up and say to hell with it, I’m taking my talents elsewhere. People forget that teachers are parents also. Teachers have lives outside also. So again, its not that teachers view themselves as more special, but that many a parent, especially here on DCUm seems to view themselves and their circumstances as more special.

DP, but I think part of what people are reacting to is that (1) unlike the other areas listed, teachers (at least here) did NOT work in-person for much of the pandemic and (2) parents were given SO little grace around having to work and simultaneously assist their kids with the hell that was Zoom school. So, frankly, there's not much left in the tank, especially not when teachers' unions actively worked to keep remote education as long as it was. I get that teachers are exhausted. We are ALL exhausted. It would have been great if we could have been more understanding a year ago instead of just screaming about how school wasn't daycare and we should watch our own [bleeping] kids.

PP- I hear ya and don’t disagree on the whole. But I think the bolded of your post illustrates exactly what was said in my post, which is that people forget teachers are workers and parents also. Teachers also had to work and simultaneously assist their kids on Zoom or try to find childcare, they weren’t exempt for the struggle. They aren’t exempt from the struggle now. And even states where teachers went back experienced the chaos of quarantines and hybrid teaching and are now dealing with learning loss. Its not sunshine and roses everywhere that teachers went back sooner.

MCPS doesn't have hybrid this year and it was only hybrid for a few months. The learning loss is because parents didn't have their kids log on or do the work. You cannot blame teachers for that.

They have more requests for time off. Reality is many families will be traveling and taking that day off. So, it makes sense to just close schools. If anything they should offer virtual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome. Thanks for the last minute notice, yet again, MCPS.

It’s great for us working moms who have to physically go into work.

As always, thanks for the adequate notice so that we can scramble to make arrangements.

It’s two weeks notice.

I’m a dentist. I blocked off the afternoon, knowing that the kids would be off and I could do pick up. Now, with two weeks notice, I have to call and reschedule all the people who took time out of their scheduled to make appointments that morning. Or, I scramble to find a sitter with short notice, just like everyone else who will also need to do so.

They could have decided this at the beginning of the year. Or in October. Two weeks notice is ridiculous.

Don’t you have an office your kids can sit in with an iPad for four hours?

I really find it hard to believe that you have that many dental appointments for the day before Thanksgiving.

Are you kidding? LOL. Our office is booked weeks out. Pretty much any medical provider is booked solid over this past year. Lots of dentists retired and demand for appointments has been up.

Who’s going to pick the kids up from the bus stop and bring them to the office?

PP, for someone who thinks she has all the answers, you’re actually pretty out of touch with reality, aren’t you.

Pssst, school is out. Nobody needs to pick them up from the bus stop

That makes it simpler than the dentist having to leave work for a half day.

Why expect critical thinking from a dentist?

A dentist can generally afford child care for the day. Now its easier as its all day vs. 1/2 day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

NP- Burn out is real is all those professions that you named and the folks responsible for employing them are having to make accommodations and do things in order to keep their employees happy and working. So its not that teachers are more special, its that teachers are the same, everyone takes their job for granted until they throw their hands up and say to hell with it, I’m taking my talents elsewhere. People forget that teachers are parents also. Teachers have lives outside also. So again, its not that teachers view themselves as more special, but that many a parent, especially here on DCUm seems to view themselves and their circumstances as more special.

DP, but I think part of what people are reacting to is that (1) unlike the other areas listed, teachers (at least here) did NOT work in-person for much of the pandemic and (2) parents were given SO little grace around having to work and simultaneously assist their kids with the hell that was Zoom school. So, frankly, there's not much left in the tank, especially not when teachers' unions actively worked to keep remote education as long as it was. I get that teachers are exhausted. We are ALL exhausted. It would have been great if we could have been more understanding a year ago instead of just screaming about how school wasn't daycare and we should watch our own [bleeping] kids.

PP- I hear ya and don’t disagree on the whole. But I think the bolded of your post illustrates exactly what was said in my post, which is that people forget teachers are workers and parents also. Teachers also had to work and simultaneously assist their kids on Zoom or try to find childcare, they weren’t exempt for the struggle. They aren’t exempt from the struggle now. And even states where teachers went back experienced the chaos of quarantines and hybrid teaching and are now dealing with learning loss. Its not sunshine and roses everywhere that teachers went back sooner.

MCPS doesn't have hybrid this year and it was only hybrid for a few months. The learning loss is because parents didn't have their kids log on or do the work. You cannot blame teachers for that.

They have more requests for time off. Reality is many families will be traveling and taking that day off. So, it makes sense to just close schools. If anything they should offer virtual.

I sure can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

NP- Burn out is real is all those professions that you named and the folks responsible for employing them are having to make accommodations and do things in order to keep their employees happy and working. So its not that teachers are more special, its that teachers are the same, everyone takes their job for granted until they throw their hands up and say to hell with it, I’m taking my talents elsewhere. People forget that teachers are parents also. Teachers have lives outside also. So again, its not that teachers view themselves as more special, but that many a parent, especially here on DCUm seems to view themselves and their circumstances as more special.

DP, but I think part of what people are reacting to is that (1) unlike the other areas listed, teachers (at least here) did NOT work in-person for much of the pandemic and (2) parents were given SO little grace around having to work and simultaneously assist their kids with the hell that was Zoom school. So, frankly, there's not much left in the tank, especially not when teachers' unions actively worked to keep remote education as long as it was. I get that teachers are exhausted. We are ALL exhausted. It would have been great if we could have been more understanding a year ago instead of just screaming about how school wasn't daycare and we should watch our own [bleeping] kids.

PP- I hear ya and don’t disagree on the whole. But I think the bolded of your post illustrates exactly what was said in my post, which is that people forget teachers are workers and parents also. Teachers also had to work and simultaneously assist their kids on Zoom or try to find childcare, they weren’t exempt for the struggle. They aren’t exempt from the struggle now. And even states where teachers went back experienced the chaos of quarantines and hybrid teaching and are now dealing with learning loss. Its not sunshine and roses everywhere that teachers went back sooner.

Some of our kids are still in virtual and yet, we manage to work it out. And, you are complaining about one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

NP- Burn out is real is all those professions that you named and the folks responsible for employing them are having to make accommodations and do things in order to keep their employees happy and working. So its not that teachers are more special, its that teachers are the same, everyone takes their job for granted until they throw their hands up and say to hell with it, I’m taking my talents elsewhere. People forget that teachers are parents also. Teachers have lives outside also. So again, its not that teachers view themselves as more special, but that many a parent, especially here on DCUm seems to view themselves and their circumstances as more special.

DP, but I think part of what people are reacting to is that (1) unlike the other areas listed, teachers (at least here) did NOT work in-person for much of the pandemic and (2) parents were given SO little grace around having to work and simultaneously assist their kids with the hell that was Zoom school. So, frankly, there's not much left in the tank, especially not when teachers' unions actively worked to keep remote education as long as it was. I get that teachers are exhausted. We are ALL exhausted. It would have been great if we could have been more understanding a year ago instead of just screaming about how school wasn't daycare and we should watch our own [bleeping] kids.

PP- I hear ya and don’t disagree on the whole. But I think the bolded of your post illustrates exactly what was said in my post, which is that people forget teachers are workers and parents also. Teachers also had to work and simultaneously assist their kids on Zoom or try to find childcare, they weren’t exempt for the struggle. They aren’t exempt from the struggle now. And even states where teachers went back experienced the chaos of quarantines and hybrid teaching and are now dealing with learning loss. Its not sunshine and roses everywhere that teachers went back sooner.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I find it interesting that when parents, primarily women, complained about performing their own job duties while supervising their children's distance learning, the response is always "why isn't your spouse or partner helping?" But no one ever says that abut teachers. It's odd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS should hire subs/floating paras full-time or part-time with full benefits.

I think that is going to have to be the path forward. There needs to be much more backup.

Agree with this as one solution. I’m also hopeful that vaccinating the little ones will help a little—many of the subs are retirees who likely don’t want to be around unvaccinated children. If mcps were to collect and publish the vaccination rates for various schools that might help a bit as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

NP- Burn out is real is all those professions that you named and the folks responsible for employing them are having to make accommodations and do things in order to keep their employees happy and working. So its not that teachers are more special, its that teachers are the same, everyone takes their job for granted until they throw their hands up and say to hell with it, I’m taking my talents elsewhere. People forget that teachers are parents also. Teachers have lives outside also. So again, its not that teachers view themselves as more special, but that many a parent, especially here on DCUm seems to view themselves and their circumstances as more special.

DP, but I think part of what people are reacting to is that (1) unlike the other areas listed, teachers (at least here) did NOT work in-person for much of the pandemic and (2) parents were given SO little grace around having to work and simultaneously assist their kids with the hell that was Zoom school. So, frankly, there's not much left in the tank, especially not when teachers' unions actively worked to keep remote education as long as it was. I get that teachers are exhausted. We are ALL exhausted. It would have been great if we could have been more understanding a year ago instead of just screaming about how school wasn't daycare and we should watch our own [bleeping] kids.

PP- I hear ya and don’t disagree on the whole. But I think the bolded of your post illustrates exactly what was said in my post, which is that people forget teachers are workers and parents also. Teachers also had to work and simultaneously assist their kids on Zoom or try to find childcare, they weren’t exempt for the struggle. They aren’t exempt from the struggle now. And even states where teachers went back experienced the chaos of quarantines and hybrid teaching and are now dealing with learning loss. Its not sunshine and roses everywhere that teachers went back sooner.

Some of our kids are still in virtual and yet, we manage to work it out. And, you are complaining about one day.

Who is this for? I’m the NP who was saying this one day is not the reason to once again be bashing teachers and forgetting that they too are parents and humans.