Cancel Virtual Academy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

So, basically you have decided for the rest of us because 5-11 can be vaccinated, covid is over and its safe for us to send our kids back to school. Who are YOU to decide that for us? We aren't near the end game with covid. Other countries are also highly vaccinated are seeing surges. Its not as simple as vaccines, especially these vaccines. Many of us WANT to send our kids back, but will not do so until it is safe. Your idea of safe is exactly WHY I am not sending my kids to in person school as your family puts our family at risk.

There is a huge benefit to keeping the curriculum aligned and its not just the pandemic on why some families are keeping their kids in virtual. Some kids were bullied in person. Some kids have other health issues. Some kids simply do better with the online format.

And, some of us will not return as we were told we could not return to the schools are kids were attending and have to transfer them. For some of our kids that means multiple school changes over the past few years and that isn't in their best interest either.

But, when you can show me that the schools are "safe" beyond vaccines we will consider our kids returning in person. And, my idea of safe, not yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

It is striking how little anyone here seems to contemplate the prospect of a vaccine-escaping variant.

The vaccines target the spike protein. The spike protein is the part that engages with the cell. If the spike protein mutates far enough to escape the vaccines, it will no longer engage with the cell.

Naturally acquired immunity, though, can target any part of the virus, and those parts of the virus can mutate away. This is why vaccine acquired immunity is better than infection-acquired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

So, basically you have decided for the rest of us because 5-11 can be vaccinated, covid is over and its safe for us to send our kids back to school. Who are YOU to decide that for us? We aren't near the end game with covid. Other countries are also highly vaccinated are seeing surges. Its not as simple as vaccines, especially these vaccines. Many of us WANT to send our kids back, but will not do so until it is safe. Your idea of safe is exactly WHY I am not sending my kids to in person school as your family puts our family at risk.

There is a huge benefit to keeping the curriculum aligned and its not just the pandemic on why some families are keeping their kids in virtual. Some kids were bullied in person. Some kids have other health issues. Some kids simply do better with the online format.

And, some of us will not return as we were told we could not return to the schools are kids were attending and have to transfer them. For some of our kids that means multiple school changes over the past few years and that isn't in their best interest either.

But, when you can show me that the schools are "safe" beyond vaccines we will consider our kids returning in person. And, my idea of safe, not yours.

What I was trying to say is with the vaccine out, schools will be as safe as they're ever going to be. For 12+, that'll be true by the spring, and certainly true for everyone else by next fall. The kids that remain in virtual after that likely won't be coming back in person ever. As such, there's really no benefit to keeping the curriculum aligned with the nearby physical schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

It is striking how little anyone here seems to contemplate the prospect of a vaccine-escaping variant.

How so? If that does happen, that's only more reason to think the kids in VA will never come back to the physical schools.

I'm not sure where you're getting this idea that I want VA to end. I don't- I want it to be sustainable for all kids across Maryland. There's no reason to have counties manage seperate VA programs when the VA students aren't likely to go back to the physical schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

So, basically you have decided for the rest of us because 5-11 can be vaccinated, covid is over and its safe for us to send our kids back to school. Who are YOU to decide that for us? We aren't near the end game with covid. Other countries are also highly vaccinated are seeing surges. Its not as simple as vaccines, especially these vaccines. Many of us WANT to send our kids back, but will not do so until it is safe. Your idea of safe is exactly WHY I am not sending my kids to in person school as your family puts our family at risk.

There is a huge benefit to keeping the curriculum aligned and its not just the pandemic on why some families are keeping their kids in virtual. Some kids were bullied in person. Some kids have other health issues. Some kids simply do better with the online format.

And, some of us will not return as we were told we could not return to the schools are kids were attending and have to transfer them. For some of our kids that means multiple school changes over the past few years and that isn't in their best interest either.

But, when you can show me that the schools are "safe" beyond vaccines we will consider our kids returning in person. And, my idea of safe, not yours.

What I was trying to say is with the vaccine out, schools will be as safe as they're ever going to be. For 12+, that'll be true by the spring, and certainly true for everyone else by next fall. The kids that remain in virtual after that likely won't be coming back in person ever. As such, there's really no benefit to keeping the curriculum aligned with the nearby physical schools.

What you are saying is wrong. And, you are not listening to others concerns regarding safety and Covid. You are generalizing about families you know nothing about. You decided Covid is over now that vaccines are out. Great for you. You decided it was safe for your kids to return. Good for you. Others of us have different beliefs of when Covid is over for our families. Thankfully you don’t get to decide what is best for other families.

Either way. MCPS has been clear they will run virtual and it’s here to stay. The state has no ability to run a school. So, saying it should go to the state level is silly. And, you are taking finding away funding from mcps. Mcps gets money per student. 3000k students leave is equal to closing two elementary schools an one middle school. Or one high school and one middle school.

Why is 3000 kids being in virtual such a big deal? Isn’t it great mcps provided the option for those of us who needed or wanted it? It’s it great mcps listened to concerns and help families like us who had valid reasons to stay virtual. It takes nothing away from in person school. It’s much cheaper for mcps. And, it meets the needs of the kids attending.

You have not given us one valid reason why having a VA is a bad thing? If it’s equity don’t worry Baltimore has their own. So does PG County. And, there is a large number of minorities in VA so you cannot pull the race or equity card. Mcps providing more programs to meet different families needs is a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

It is striking how little anyone here seems to contemplate the prospect of a vaccine-escaping variant.

How so? If that does happen, that's only more reason to think the kids in VA will never come back to the physical schools.

I'm not sure where you're getting this idea that I want VA to end. I don't- I want it to be sustainable for all kids across Maryland. There's no reason to have counties manage seperate VA programs when the VA students aren't likely to go back to the physical schools.

Every county has a VA. Google can quickly tell you that. By your comments, we should get rid of all counties and just make one school system for the entire state. It is sustainable. Even if only 1k are enrolled, that’s still a school in itself.

How do you know families don’t plan to return. You are making sweeping generalizations about us. It’s not just about vaccines for some of us. You decided that was your safety threshold, but others of us have different thresholds. We’d love to go back in person but we also cannot risk Covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

It is striking how little anyone here seems to contemplate the prospect of a vaccine-escaping variant.

How so? If that does happen, that's only more reason to think the kids in VA will never come back to the physical schools.

I'm not sure where you're getting this idea that I want VA to end. I don't- I want it to be sustainable for all kids across Maryland. There's no reason to have counties manage seperate VA programs when the VA students aren't likely to go back to the physical schools.

Every county has a VA. Google can quickly tell you that. By your comments, we should get rid of all counties and just make one school system for the entire state. It is sustainable. Even if only 1k are enrolled, that’s still a school in itself.

How do you know families don’t plan to return. You are making sweeping generalizations about us. It’s not just about vaccines for some of us. You decided that was your safety threshold, but others of us have different thresholds. We’d love to go back in person but we also cannot risk Covid.

If you can't risk COVID, then you're not going to be sending your kids to school anytime in the foreseeable future. That's my point. COVID isn't going away, so if the vaccine isn't enough for you, nothing will be. And that's fine- you can make that decision for yourself. But we shouldn't base virtual programs around the idea that those kids are ever coming back. We can save money on a statewide basis by generally managing VA at MSDE, likely through a contract with an online school company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

How is VA subpar? Are your kids in it? It’s nothing like last year and last year could have done more but parents screamed how hard it was.

We go by county so doing it statewide makes no sense. They have the numbers to justify it. Each county uses a different curriculum so state run is not logical.

How is it harming our kids? Where is your evidence?

The data from last year is awfully compelling. Sure, whatever changes they made might reduce the gap, but there's no plausible way to close it. And even if you could close the academic gap, you're still risking severe developmental harm by removing kids from normal social interactions. Anyone that knows homeschooled kids knows they don't generally do well transitioning to college.

Public education is guaranteed at a state level, not a county level. If we're going to provide public virtual education as an alternative to homeschooling, then we should make sure everyone in the state has that option. The best and most economical way to do that is to have the state provide that option to everyone. There are more counties in the state than MoCo to think about. There's no good reason to handle virtual at a local level. Part of the point of virtual is that it doesn't matter where you're physically located.

Do you not understand VA is very different from last year and your comments have nothing to do with VA? We go by county. You need the same curriculum so kids can switch between them. It is economical. It costs less than in person school and uses far less resources. Removing 3k students would be a huge hit to funding.

If you don’t want it for your kids fine, but why do you care if others of us choose it?

If those of us left if they did not offer it, MCPS would have lost a lot of funding which then would impact your kids.

How are our kids being academically harmed if they have the same number of class hours and same curriculum?

I thought I was clear- people should be free to screw up their own kids with virtual education. It's almost certainly better than implicitly encouraging people to homeschool. I think VA should continue. I just think it is silly, inequitable, and inefficient to administer virtual at a county level. Handle it at a state level so that kids in counties big and small have access to it.

What do you find so threatening about having a common virtual option for kids across the state? Worried your kids might have to interact with black kids from Baltimore? It'll be good for them. If we're lucky, they'll end up less like you.

MCPS and Baltimore use completely different curriculums so your post makes no sense. The VA is based off the same curriculum as in person so kids can easily transfer in and out.

How are we messing up our kids education? They are doing the same curriculum for the same class hours as yours.

How is it inefficient, inequitable and silly to do it at the county level? We are county based.

Why don't you send your kids to school with kids in Baltimore? When my kids are in person they are in a low income/high minority schools so you are ranting at the wrong person. Why don't you send your kids to a school like that? Believe it or not, MCPS has plenty of those schools right here where the majority of kids are minorities.

And, if you look at the population in VA, there are a significant number of minorities in it. You are ranting about stuff you don't know to justify your poor choice of sending your kids in person and you feel guilty you cannot handle having your kids at home. Your kids NEED to be in person, but many of ours will thrive in either situation because as parents we support them.

Stop making everything about race and find a new attack. As, VA has tons of minorities and many of us go to high minority schools. Just because you don't, doesn't mean our kids don't either.

Why does it matter that different counties have different curriculums? This year was a transition year between virtual and in-person. I thought it made sense for districts to run their own virtual programs to try to make it easier to allow the kids to return after being vaccinated.

Next year, though, it makes sense to transition virtual to a sustainable, permanent program for parents that don't want their kids to have normal social interactions with others. There's little reason to think anyone continuing in virtual next year will come back to an in-person program. That's not to say they couldn't, but already teachers and students have to accomodate moves to school districts. An unexpected move from virtual back to an in-person program would just be like moving from one county to another, which kids/parents do all the time.

While Moco is big enough it could economically handle a permanent virtual program, the same cannot be said for smaller counties. If you look beyond your own situation, to what is best for students everywhere, it clearly makes sense to move virtual to a shared system administered by the state.

It's not going to happen, but please, continue pompously pontificating about matters over which you have no control.

Keep in mind it's an issue that will be ultimately decide through political processes at the state and local levels. I don't see the state excited at the prospect of paying money to do duplicate online learning across 24 jurisdictions. Fighting a state-run system might lead to killing VA entirely.

And you still haven't given a coherent reason by the state can't do it. Though, one of your last posts alluded to one. Yes, the state would likely outsource virtual to a private sector company. You're outraged at the potential to have non-union teachers? Is that what this is about?

God, you're dense. I didn't say it "the state can't do it." I said the state is NOT doing it and will not be doing it any time soon. VA is already running, staffed and funded beyond this school year. So feel free to waste your time bloviating in overly verbose diatribes, but just know that that is indeed what you're doing -- wasting your time.

Oh, and any post about outsourcing to private companies is not mine. You're engaging with MULTIPLE people here telling you you're wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

How is VA subpar? Are your kids in it? It’s nothing like last year and last year could have done more but parents screamed how hard it was.

We go by county so doing it statewide makes no sense. They have the numbers to justify it. Each county uses a different curriculum so state run is not logical.

How is it harming our kids? Where is your evidence?

The data from last year is awfully compelling. Sure, whatever changes they made might reduce the gap, but there's no plausible way to close it. And even if you could close the academic gap, you're still risking severe developmental harm by removing kids from normal social interactions. Anyone that knows homeschooled kids knows they don't generally do well transitioning to college.

Public education is guaranteed at a state level, not a county level. If we're going to provide public virtual education as an alternative to homeschooling, then we should make sure everyone in the state has that option. The best and most economical way to do that is to have the state provide that option to everyone. There are more counties in the state than MoCo to think about. There's no good reason to handle virtual at a local level. Part of the point of virtual is that it doesn't matter where you're physically located.

Do you not understand VA is very different from last year and your comments have nothing to do with VA? We go by county. You need the same curriculum so kids can switch between them. It is economical. It costs less than in person school and uses far less resources. Removing 3k students would be a huge hit to funding.

If you don’t want it for your kids fine, but why do you care if others of us choose it?

If those of us left if they did not offer it, MCPS would have lost a lot of funding which then would impact your kids.

How are our kids being academically harmed if they have the same number of class hours and same curriculum?

I thought I was clear- people should be free to screw up their own kids with virtual education. It's almost certainly better than implicitly encouraging people to homeschool. I think VA should continue. I just think it is silly, inequitable, and inefficient to administer virtual at a county level. Handle it at a state level so that kids in counties big and small have access to it.

What do you find so threatening about having a common virtual option for kids across the state? Worried your kids might have to interact with black kids from Baltimore? It'll be good for them. If we're lucky, they'll end up less like you.

MCPS and Baltimore use completely different curriculums so your post makes no sense. The VA is based off the same curriculum as in person so kids can easily transfer in and out.

How are we messing up our kids education? They are doing the same curriculum for the same class hours as yours.

How is it inefficient, inequitable and silly to do it at the county level? We are county based.

Why don't you send your kids to school with kids in Baltimore? When my kids are in person they are in a low income/high minority schools so you are ranting at the wrong person. Why don't you send your kids to a school like that? Believe it or not, MCPS has plenty of those schools right here where the majority of kids are minorities.

And, if you look at the population in VA, there are a significant number of minorities in it. You are ranting about stuff you don't know to justify your poor choice of sending your kids in person and you feel guilty you cannot handle having your kids at home. Your kids NEED to be in person, but many of ours will thrive in either situation because as parents we support them.

Stop making everything about race and find a new attack. As, VA has tons of minorities and many of us go to high minority schools. Just because you don't, doesn't mean our kids don't either.

Why does it matter that different counties have different curriculums? This year was a transition year between virtual and in-person. I thought it made sense for districts to run their own virtual programs to try to make it easier to allow the kids to return after being vaccinated.

Next year, though, it makes sense to transition virtual to a sustainable, permanent program for parents that don't want their kids to have normal social interactions with others. There's little reason to think anyone continuing in virtual next year will come back to an in-person program. That's not to say they couldn't, but already teachers and students have to accomodate moves to school districts. An unexpected move from virtual back to an in-person program would just be like moving from one county to another, which kids/parents do all the time.

While Moco is big enough it could economically handle a permanent virtual program, the same cannot be said for smaller counties. If you look beyond your own situation, to what is best for students everywhere, it clearly makes sense to move virtual to a shared system administered by the state.

It's not going to happen, but please, continue pompously pontificating about matters over which you have no control.

Keep in mind it's an issue that will be ultimately decide through political processes at the state and local levels. I don't see the state excited at the prospect of paying money to do duplicate online learning across 24 jurisdictions. Fighting a state-run system might lead to killing VA entirely.

And you still haven't given a coherent reason by the state can't do it. Though, one of your last posts alluded to one. Yes, the state would likely outsource virtual to a private sector company. You're outraged at the potential to have non-union teachers? Is that what this is about?

God, you're dense. I didn't say it "the state can't do it." I said the state is NOT doing it and will not be doing it any time soon. VA is already running, staffed and funded beyond this school year. So feel free to waste your time bloviating in overly verbose diatribes, but just know that that is indeed what you're doing -- wasting your time.

Oh, and any post about outsourcing to private companies is not mine. You're engaging with MULTIPLE people here telling you you're wrong.

Are you really that clueless about how the state runs its educational system. You should look into this more before ranting about it. I spoke about the two private VA as we looked into them as we were NOT sending our kids back in person with covid and they were not very good programs. You are making all kinds of assumptions and really know nothing about it.

MCPS is not just funding VA through this year. It has funding for the future as well. You really need to look into things before you spout out your wishes.

I really hope you don't have kids and if you do, I hope they are in person as you clearly don't care about their best needs and only your wants/needs matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

It is striking how little anyone here seems to contemplate the prospect of a vaccine-escaping variant.

How so? If that does happen, that's only more reason to think the kids in VA will never come back to the physical schools.

I'm not sure where you're getting this idea that I want VA to end. I don't- I want it to be sustainable for all kids across Maryland. There's no reason to have counties manage seperate VA programs when the VA students aren't likely to go back to the physical schools.

Every county has a VA. Google can quickly tell you that. By your comments, we should get rid of all counties and just make one school system for the entire state. It is sustainable. Even if only 1k are enrolled, that’s still a school in itself.

How do you know families don’t plan to return. You are making sweeping generalizations about us. It’s not just about vaccines for some of us. You decided that was your safety threshold, but others of us have different thresholds. We’d love to go back in person but we also cannot risk Covid.

If you can't risk COVID, then you're not going to be sending your kids to school anytime in the foreseeable future. That's my point. COVID isn't going away, so if the vaccine isn't enough for you, nothing will be. And that's fine- you can make that decision for yourself. But we shouldn't base virtual programs around the idea that those kids are ever coming back. We can save money on a statewide basis by generally managing VA at MSDE, likely through a contract with an online school company.

You really don't get it do you. No, the vaccine isn't enough. If it were, we wouldn't be seeing so many breakthrough cases.

You have no idea if my kids will go back or when as its not for you to decide.

Contracting out would cost far more to provide something equal to what MCPS is providing with live teachers. And, there really aren't any programs that they could contract out to that are equal. And, fi their are, please share as I couldn't find any.

You can rant about the state taking over VA all you want but MCPS has funded VA for the next several years. Despite what you want, its not going away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every county, or at least he bigger ones have VA. Googling to see it, even Baltimore City has one. At some point, if you have 10-40K students in VA, you'd have to create a entire new school system, vs. separate schools like each county did now. If that poster wants to go through the state, fine, however they can argue all they want but MCPS has been clear that they are committed to keeping VA.

Doing it through the state makes no sense except if you mandate each county use the same exact curriculum so kids can move in and out of VA to in person easily. Although the state taking over the curriculum may not be a bad thing if they brought textbooks back.

I get why it there might be substantial value to making it easy to go to/from virtual during the pandemic. But we're nearing the end-game on COVID, with the 5-11yo vaccines rolling out. Of the kids whose parents choose to keep them in virtual next fall, I think it is safe to assume *most* will never return to their old in-person schools. So there's very little benefit to keeping the virtual curriculum aligned with the physical schools that happen to be geographically close to the students.

It is striking how little anyone here seems to contemplate the prospect of a vaccine-escaping variant.

How so? If that does happen, that's only more reason to think the kids in VA will never come back to the physical schools.

I'm not sure where you're getting this idea that I want VA to end. I don't- I want it to be sustainable for all kids across Maryland. There's no reason to have counties manage seperate VA programs when the VA students aren't likely to go back to the physical schools.

Every county has a VA. Google can quickly tell you that. By your comments, we should get rid of all counties and just make one school system for the entire state. It is sustainable. Even if only 1k are enrolled, that’s still a school in itself.

How do you know families don’t plan to return. You are making sweeping generalizations about us. It’s not just about vaccines for some of us. You decided that was your safety threshold, but others of us have different thresholds. We’d love to go back in person but we also cannot risk Covid.

If you can't risk COVID, then you're not going to be sending your kids to school anytime in the foreseeable future. That's my point. COVID isn't going away, so if the vaccine isn't enough for you, nothing will be. And that's fine- you can make that decision for yourself. But we shouldn't base virtual programs around the idea that those kids are ever coming back. We can save money on a statewide basis by generally managing VA at MSDE, likely through a contract with an online school company.

You really don't get it do you. No, the vaccine isn't enough. If it were, we wouldn't be seeing so many breakthrough cases.

You have no idea if my kids will go back or when as its not for you to decide.

Contracting out would cost far more to provide something equal to what MCPS is providing with live teachers. And, there really aren't any programs that they could contract out to that are equal. And, fi their are, please share as I couldn't find any.

You can rant about the state taking over VA all you want but MCPS has funded VA for the next several years. Despite what you want, its not going away.

You don't know how MCPS will decide to evolve or devolve VA over the coming years either. All you know is what they tell you today. Being funded for the next several years is a meaningless observation. They re-make their budgets year to year. Where are you pulling this from anyway?

PP is simply saying that there is a subset of parents like you who will never let their kids re-engage in a Covid-endemic world. It makes sense to group these students together at a state-funded level because they're only symbolically part of MCPS any more.

[Anonymous]

Not all families are in VA for Covid. Some are, some aren’t. vA is part of MCPS. It’s no different from them opening up another in person building.

I am pulling the information from the information we are getting from VA. If you were involved with VA or even spent a few minutes learning about it you would know it.

If you’d like our kids to return in person for families who choose it due to Covid, what are you willing to do to make it safer for them to return.

Even if MCPS does away with VA the state is not going to offer one. How do I know? Because unlike you, I contacted the state and MCPS to look at all our options prior to getting accepted into VA as a back up plan as we decided as a family our kids were not going in person last fall. Some of us actually put effort and research into this. The state of MD approved two programs that are private pay and looked terrible. Those are the only two options they offered. There was no live teaching and it was either self taught or videos with periodic check ins. If you also followed old threads some of us talked about it as we were scrambling on what to do with our kids. You should research this before you rant and want to shut down VA.

But, again, if you aren’t willing to be part of the solution in keeping kids safe in school, then stop critiquing our choice to keep our kids virtual. We checked out in person school. There is no distancing, kids half masked, very limited testing and everything back to normal. It’s an old building and walking through it I did not see the portable air filters as promised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all families are in VA for Covid. Some are, some aren’t. vA is part of MCPS. It’s no different from them opening up another in person building.

I am pulling the information from the information we are getting from VA. If you were involved with VA or even spent a few minutes learning about it you would know it.

If you’d like our kids to return in person for families who choose it due to Covid, what are you willing to do to make it safer for them to return.

Even if MCPS does away with VA the state is not going to offer one. How do I know? Because unlike you, I contacted the state and MCPS to look at all our options prior to getting accepted into VA as a back up plan as we decided as a family our kids were not going in person last fall. Some of us actually put effort and research into this. The state of MD approved two programs that are private pay and looked terrible. Those are the only two options they offered. There was no live teaching and it was either self taught or videos with periodic check ins. If you also followed old threads some of us talked about it as we were scrambling on what to do with our kids. You should research this before you rant and want to shut down VA.

But, again, if you aren’t willing to be part of the solution in keeping kids safe in school, then stop critiquing our choice to keep our kids virtual. We checked out in person school. There is no distancing, kids half masked, very limited testing and everything back to normal. It’s an old building and walking through it I did not see the portable air filters as promised.

Nothing beyond vaccinations. Covid is here to stay, and either you learn to exist out in the real world or you don't. We're looking forward to masks coming off by next school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since Covid vaccines are now available for all school going ages, should VA be canceled starting MP3? Time to go back to normal. This way standardized testing like CogAT can be administered in time for ES and MS magnet programs.

What is wrong with you? You don’t want to give a small number of kids a different choice that they already have?

I’ll answer this. The answer for these posters is no. Post after post of these petty, greedy people so offended at the prospect that a minor increase in student pool means that Larla now may have to be in a program with black, brown, and lower SES kids who are nonetheless extremely bright and will absolutely succeed in the magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all families are in VA for Covid. Some are, some aren’t. vA is part of MCPS. It’s no different from them opening up another in person building.

I am pulling the information from the information we are getting from VA. If you were involved with VA or even spent a few minutes learning about it you would know it.

If you’d like our kids to return in person for families who choose it due to Covid, what are you willing to do to make it safer for them to return.

Even if MCPS does away with VA the state is not going to offer one. How do I know? Because unlike you, I contacted the state and MCPS to look at all our options prior to getting accepted into VA as a back up plan as we decided as a family our kids were not going in person last fall. Some of us actually put effort and research into this. The state of MD approved two programs that are private pay and looked terrible. Those are the only two options they offered. There was no live teaching and it was either self taught or videos with periodic check ins. If you also followed old threads some of us talked about it as we were scrambling on what to do with our kids. You should research this before you rant and want to shut down VA.

But, again, if you aren’t willing to be part of the solution in keeping kids safe in school, then stop critiquing our choice to keep our kids virtual. We checked out in person school. There is no distancing, kids half masked, very limited testing and everything back to normal. It’s an old building and walking through it I did not see the portable air filters as promised.

Nothing beyond vaccinations. Covid is here to stay, and either you learn to exist out in the real world or you don't. We're looking forward to masks coming off by next school year.

Masks can and should stay.