APS - School on Monday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason why it has to be the schools that shut is because you’re not just sending your kids to,school. Because of your evaluation of risk, you’re also sending your kids to sports, parties, playdates, etc. You’re also over it so you’re eating at restaurants, masking “only if asked”, going to adult gatherings, church, etc. The schools are the thing that the local jurisdictions can control. Our church shut down, but most didn’t. So now there isn’t enough staff to staff the buildings. A two or three wee reset isn’t to get rid of covid, it’s to allow everyone enough time to clear the virus and not spread it to the other half of the people who don’t have it yet. Allow middle and high schoolers to get the booster.

I am telling my kid that if he gets to school and they try to shove him in an auditorium because there aren’t enough teachers and they are going to create lovely superspreader events while staring at his iPad, to call me and I will call the school to sign him out and let him come home. It they at least put the older kids in virtual, then we know what each day is going to look like. For this who need the child care, you can send your kids in for that, not judging.

You aren’t listening. My 5 yo has no way to call me. And this has nothing to do with childcare. It's about learning. K-2 students are entitled to an education and they aren't capable of learning on an iPad. Virtual is a farce for those little ones who can't yet read or sit still.

APS needs to prioritize keeping K-2 in person. Reallocate subs and assistants. Use staff from the central office. Whatever it takes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alright, I need someone to give it to me straight. What are we thinking for Monday re staffing? Please tell me my kids will be in school..

100% chance they will be in school early in the week. Later in the week, who knows. Depends how bad it goes w/ substitutes.

Agree. And next week is totally up in the air once those masks come off in the cafeteria!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you care so much, lobby for high school to go virtual so necessary resources (buses, subs, N95s, etc) can be directed to elementary schools. Stop whining. This is real.

No one needs N95s. Those are respirators. There are vaccines available.

Everyone will get COVID. These people trying so hard to avoid it are just prolonging the pandemic.

CDC is now saying that normal non-diabetic kids who get covid are more likely to develop diabetes afterwards. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/

That also happens when your kids get a cold, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alright, I need someone to give it to me straight. What are we thinking for Monday re staffing? Please tell me my kids will be in school..

100% chance they will be in school early in the week. Later in the week, who knows. Depends how bad it goes w/ substitutes.

Agree. And next week is totally up in the air once those masks come off in the cafeteria!

They should eat outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hoping for virtual for HS as soon as possible. Most kids can manage themselves, AP students have an opportunity to not fall behind (because fewer teachers will get infected and be out), and working parents shouldn’t need to take a day off from work to supervise them (they should be able to fix their own lunch at this point).

It would be great if APS could be proactive and do that. But their hands are tied by 1303. Thanks, APE and OpenFCPS.

As someone with early elementary kids, I'm enormously grateful that APS is pressured to stay open. Virtual is worthless.

Yup. I’m another one who won’t have my early elementary child participate if it’s virtual. What are they going to do? Nothing.

But maybe they could ensure ES stays home by directing scarce staff resources (subs, bus drivers, etc.) to the ES. They could do that if they had authority to place MS and/or HS in virtual mode. But they lack that authority.

There is zero reason to believe they would do that. It didn’t happen last year, it wouldn’t happen this year.

It would be totally consistent with SB1303. The only reason it won't is because Duran and Loft are incompetent and don't care about educating early elementary. They've gotten the shift since the beginning.

WTF is wrong with you? Why are you so out of touch with reality & hostile?

Instead of attacking me, perhaps reply to the facts? What is Duran's plan for ensuring learning for K-2 kids who can't meaningfully access virtual learning? Having seen the terrible test scores, have you seen any evidence that he's going to do anything differently from last year? That is the source of a great deal of frustration. His equitable solution is no learning for those students, plus no plan for learning recovery.

Basically this. My first grader missed half a year of preschool (ours closed overnight like many others in March 2020), spent the bulk of his K year in virtual school with only a few months of 2-day per week hybrid, and was just now in a pretty good place with in-person 1st grade. It has taken Herculean efforts and an incredible amount of privilege (being able to hire a pod teacher, educated parents who can supplement, etc.) to even be in this position at all and now I’m worried the solution to the inevitable staffing issues will once again be to treat these young kids as if they’re the same as teenagers who can engage in distance learning.

And I’m tired of being gaslighted by a segment of society who thinks this continues to be ok because the infinitesimal risk of death/serious disease for vaccinated adults. Must be nice to be able to wring your hands over tiny hypothetical risks while parents of young kids have suffered actual harm over the last 2 years. I don’t even have the energy anymore to care about what could happen if sick with COVID because I’ve been so busy dealing with the actual damage of the pandemic response to COVID. Yes, I know hospitals are getting full. But like so many on here use as a refrain “it’s not the job of the schools to fix society’s problems.” Why don’t we let the politicians, private sector, healthcare workers, etc. figure out how to get community spread down and have the school systems focus on actually educating kids, which is, you know their entire.freaking.purpose.

If elementary schools go virtual, I hope all parents of young kids boycott this mess. I honestly don’t think APS should get to count this toward academic hours because they’re not actually educating students. If the test scores drop even more, then perhaps Duran will have to finally come up with a solution or get booted.

You need to wrap your head around the fact that the next month or two are going to be rough and there are likely going to be disruptions.

If we really want to prioritize schools and learning, the way to do it is to close everything except for grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, places like Target, etc. Restaurants can stay open, but shut down indoor dining. Close the bars. Shut down pro sports, school sports, rec sports, travel sports and gym and put everyone back under stay-at-home orders. If we do that, the schools have a fighting chance of staying open consistently over the next couple of months. No one wants to do that, so good luck. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alright, I need someone to give it to me straight. What are we thinking for Monday re staffing? Please tell me my kids will be in school..

100% chance they will be in school early in the week. Later in the week, who knows. Depends how bad it goes w/ substitutes.

Agree. And next week is totally up in the air once those masks come off in the cafeteria!

They should eat outside.

I agree 100, but on the ice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you care so much, lobby for high school to go virtual so necessary resources (buses, subs, N95s, etc) can be directed to elementary schools. Stop whining. This is real.

No one needs N95s. Those are respirators. There are vaccines available.

Everyone will get COVID. These people trying so hard to avoid it are just prolonging the pandemic.

CDC is now saying that normal non-diabetic kids who get covid are more likely to develop diabetes afterwards. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/

That also happens when your kids get a cold, right?

For people with genetic predisposition to type 1 diabetes (like my brother), yes- viral infections (“colds”- a very squishy word) can trigger the autoimmune response that results in expression of the disease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hoping for virtual for HS as soon as possible. Most kids can manage themselves, AP students have an opportunity to not fall behind (because fewer teachers will get infected and be out), and working parents shouldn’t need to take a day off from work to supervise them (they should be able to fix their own lunch at this point).

It would be great if APS could be proactive and do that. But their hands are tied by 1303. Thanks, APE and OpenFCPS.

As someone with early elementary kids, I'm enormously grateful that APS is pressured to stay open. Virtual is worthless.

Yup. I’m another one who won’t have my early elementary child participate if it’s virtual. What are they going to do? Nothing.

But maybe they could ensure ES stays home by directing scarce staff resources (subs, bus drivers, etc.) to the ES. They could do that if they had authority to place MS and/or HS in virtual mode. But they lack that authority.

There is zero reason to believe they would do that. It didn’t happen last year, it wouldn’t happen this year.

It would be totally consistent with SB1303. The only reason it won't is because Duran and Loft are incompetent and don't care about educating early elementary. They've gotten the shift since the beginning.

WTF is wrong with you? Why are you so out of touch with reality & hostile?

Instead of attacking me, perhaps reply to the facts? What is Duran's plan for ensuring learning for K-2 kids who can't meaningfully access virtual learning? Having seen the terrible test scores, have you seen any evidence that he's going to do anything differently from last year? That is the source of a great deal of frustration. His equitable solution is no learning for those students, plus no plan for learning recovery.

Basically this. My first grader missed half a year of preschool (ours closed overnight like many others in March 2020), spent the bulk of his K year in virtual school with only a few months of 2-day per week hybrid, and was just now in a pretty good place with in-person 1st grade. It has taken Herculean efforts and an incredible amount of privilege (being able to hire a pod teacher, educated parents who can supplement, etc.) to even be in this position at all and now I’m worried the solution to the inevitable staffing issues will once again be to treat these young kids as if they’re the same as teenagers who can engage in distance learning.

And I’m tired of being gaslighted by a segment of society who thinks this continues to be ok because the infinitesimal risk of death/serious disease for vaccinated adults. Must be nice to be able to wring your hands over tiny hypothetical risks while parents of young kids have suffered actual harm over the last 2 years. I don’t even have the energy anymore to care about what could happen if sick with COVID because I’ve been so busy dealing with the actual damage of the pandemic response to COVID. Yes, I know hospitals are getting full. But like so many on here use as a refrain “it’s not the job of the schools to fix society’s problems.” Why don’t we let the politicians, private sector, healthcare workers, etc. figure out how to get community spread down and have the school systems focus on actually educating kids, which is, you know their entire.freaking.purpose.

If elementary schools go virtual, I hope all parents of young kids boycott this mess. I honestly don’t think APS should get to count this toward academic hours because they’re not actually educating students. If the test scores drop even more, then perhaps Duran will have to finally come up with a solution or get booted.

You need to wrap your head around the fact that the next month or two are going to be rough and there are likely going to be disruptions.

If we really want to prioritize schools and learning, the way to do it is to close everything except for grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, places like Target, etc. Restaurants can stay open, but shut down indoor dining. Close the bars. Shut down pro sports, school sports, rec sports, travel sports and gym and put everyone back under stay-at-home orders. If we do that, the schools have a fighting chance of staying open consistently over the next couple of months. No one wants to do that, so good luck. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

+1 I totally agree with you. But LOL for the person you're responding to. There is no way that she will stay at home. She wants to go out, go to bars & restaurants, go to games and travel. Because she has to be free. She does want her cake and to eat it, too.

[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:Hoping for virtual for HS as soon as possible. Most kids can manage themselves, AP students have an opportunity to not fall behind (because fewer teachers will get infected and be out), and working parents shouldn’t need to take a day off from work to supervise them (they should be able to fix their own lunch at this point).

It would be great if APS could be proactive and do that. But their hands are tied by 1303. Thanks, APE and OpenFCPS.

As someone with early elementary kids, I'm enormously grateful that APS is pressured to stay open. Virtual is worthless.

Yup. I’m another one who won’t have my early elementary child participate if it’s virtual. What are they going to do? Nothing.

But maybe they could ensure ES stays home by directing scarce staff resources (subs, bus drivers, etc.) to the ES. They could do that if they had authority to place MS and/or HS in virtual mode. But they lack that authority.

There is zero reason to believe they would do that. It didn’t happen last year, it wouldn’t happen this year.

It would be totally consistent with SB1303. The only reason it won't is because Duran and Loft are incompetent and don't care about educating early elementary. They've gotten the shift since the beginning.

WTF is wrong with you? Why are you so out of touch with reality & hostile?

Instead of attacking me, perhaps reply to the facts? What is Duran's plan for ensuring learning for K-2 kids who can't meaningfully access virtual learning? Having seen the terrible test scores, have you seen any evidence that he's going to do anything differently from last year? That is the source of a great deal of frustration. His equitable solution is no learning for those students, plus no plan for learning recovery.

Basically this. My first grader missed half a year of preschool (ours closed overnight like many others in March 2020), spent the bulk of his K year in virtual school with only a few months of 2-day per week hybrid, and was just now in a pretty good place with in-person 1st grade. It has taken Herculean efforts and an incredible amount of privilege (being able to hire a pod teacher, educated parents who can supplement, etc.) to even be in this position at all and now I’m worried the solution to the inevitable staffing issues will once again be to treat these young kids as if they’re the same as teenagers who can engage in distance learning.

And I’m tired of being gaslighted by a segment of society who thinks this continues to be ok because the infinitesimal risk of death/serious disease for vaccinated adults. Must be nice to be able to wring your hands over tiny hypothetical risks while parents of young kids have suffered actual harm over the last 2 years. I don’t even have the energy anymore to care about what could happen if sick with COVID because I’ve been so busy dealing with the actual damage of the pandemic response to COVID. Yes, I know hospitals are getting full. But like so many on here use as a refrain “it’s not the job of the schools to fix society’s problems.” Why don’t we let the politicians, private sector, healthcare workers, etc. figure out how to get community spread down and have the school systems focus on actually educating kids, which is, you know their entire.freaking.purpose.

If elementary schools go virtual, I hope all parents of young kids boycott this mess. I honestly don’t think APS should get to count this toward academic hours because they’re not actually educating students. If the test scores drop even more, then perhaps Duran will have to finally come up with a solution or get booted.

You need to wrap your head around the fact that the next month or two are going to be rough and there are likely going to be disruptions.

If we really want to prioritize schools and learning, the way to do it is to close everything except for grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, places like Target, etc. Restaurants can stay open, but shut down indoor dining. Close the bars. Shut down pro sports, school sports, rec sports, travel sports and gym and put everyone back under stay-at-home orders. If we do that, the schools have a fighting chance of staying open consistently over the next couple of months. No one wants to do that, so good luck. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

+1 I totally agree with you. But LOL for the person you're responding to. There is no way that she will stay at home. She wants to go out, go to bars & restaurants, go to games and travel. Because she has to be free. She does want her cake and to eat it, too.

I'm a different poster, but I don't know why you think that the PP is so unsafe. Since the Omicron surge we've been especially careful. No large family gatherings over the holidays. We wear kn95s in all indoor public places. Only outdoor playdates and activities (mostly sledding). Our priority is having our kids healthy for school. They really, really need to be in school.

[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:Hoping for virtual for HS as soon as possible. Most kids can manage themselves, AP students have an opportunity to not fall behind (because fewer teachers will get infected and be out), and working parents shouldn’t need to take a day off from work to supervise them (they should be able to fix their own lunch at this point).

It would be great if APS could be proactive and do that. But their hands are tied by 1303. Thanks, APE and OpenFCPS.

As someone with early elementary kids, I'm enormously grateful that APS is pressured to stay open. Virtual is worthless.

Yup. I’m another one who won’t have my early elementary child participate if it’s virtual. What are they going to do? Nothing.

But maybe they could ensure ES stays home by directing scarce staff resources (subs, bus drivers, etc.) to the ES. They could do that if they had authority to place MS and/or HS in virtual mode. But they lack that authority.

There is zero reason to believe they would do that. It didn’t happen last year, it wouldn’t happen this year.

It would be totally consistent with SB1303. The only reason it won't is because Duran and Loft are incompetent and don't care about educating early elementary. They've gotten the shift since the beginning.

WTF is wrong with you? Why are you so out of touch with reality & hostile?

Instead of attacking me, perhaps reply to the facts? What is Duran's plan for ensuring learning for K-2 kids who can't meaningfully access virtual learning? Having seen the terrible test scores, have you seen any evidence that he's going to do anything differently from last year? That is the source of a great deal of frustration. His equitable solution is no learning for those students, plus no plan for learning recovery.

Basically this. My first grader missed half a year of preschool (ours closed overnight like many others in March 2020), spent the bulk of his K year in virtual school with only a few months of 2-day per week hybrid, and was just now in a pretty good place with in-person 1st grade. It has taken Herculean efforts and an incredible amount of privilege (being able to hire a pod teacher, educated parents who can supplement, etc.) to even be in this position at all and now I’m worried the solution to the inevitable staffing issues will once again be to treat these young kids as if they’re the same as teenagers who can engage in distance learning.

And I’m tired of being gaslighted by a segment of society who thinks this continues to be ok because the infinitesimal risk of death/serious disease for vaccinated adults. Must be nice to be able to wring your hands over tiny hypothetical risks while parents of young kids have suffered actual harm over the last 2 years. I don’t even have the energy anymore to care about what could happen if sick with COVID because I’ve been so busy dealing with the actual damage of the pandemic response to COVID. Yes, I know hospitals are getting full. But like so many on here use as a refrain “it’s not the job of the schools to fix society’s problems.” Why don’t we let the politicians, private sector, healthcare workers, etc. figure out how to get community spread down and have the school systems focus on actually educating kids, which is, you know their entire.freaking.purpose.

If elementary schools go virtual, I hope all parents of young kids boycott this mess. I honestly don’t think APS should get to count this toward academic hours because they’re not actually educating students. If the test scores drop even more, then perhaps Duran will have to finally come up with a solution or get booted.

You need to wrap your head around the fact that the next month or two are going to be rough and there are likely going to be disruptions.

If we really want to prioritize schools and learning, the way to do it is to close everything except for grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, places like Target, etc. Restaurants can stay open, but shut down indoor dining. Close the bars. Shut down pro sports, school sports, rec sports, travel sports and gym and put everyone back under stay-at-home orders. If we do that, the schools have a fighting chance of staying open consistently over the next couple of months. No one wants to do that, so good luck. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

+1 I totally agree with you. But LOL for the person you're responding to. There is no way that she will stay at home. She wants to go out, go to bars & restaurants, go to games and travel. Because she has to be free. She does want her cake and to eat it, too.

I'm a different poster, but I don't know why you think that the PP is so unsafe. Since the Omicron surge we've been especially careful. No large family gatherings over the holidays. We wear kn95s in all indoor public places. Only outdoor playdates and activities (mostly sledding). Our priority is having our kids healthy for school. They really, really need to be in school.

PP, we are the same way. The problem is, most people aren't like us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alright, I need someone to give it to me straight. What are we thinking for Monday re staffing? Please tell me my kids will be in school..

100% chance they will be in school early in the week. Later in the week, who knows. Depends how bad it goes w/ substitutes.

Agree. And next week is totally up in the air once those masks come off in the cafeteria!

They should eat outside.

It's not supposed to get above freezing on Tuesday. You know there's no way they'll let them eat outside...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you care so much, lobby for high school to go virtual so necessary resources (buses, subs, N95s, etc) can be directed to elementary schools. Stop whining. This is real.

No one needs N95s. Those are respirators. There are vaccines available.

Everyone will get COVID. These people trying so hard to avoid it are just prolonging the pandemic.

CDC is now saying that normal non-diabetic kids who get covid are more likely to develop diabetes afterwards. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/

That also happens when your kids get a cold, right?

Pure fear porn. See how many cofounders are in that study.
https://vinayprasadmdmph.substack.com/p/does-covid19-cause-diabetes-in-kids?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxODYzNDMyOSwicG9zdF9pZCI6NDY4MjMwNjIsIl8iOiJ4Smx1WSIsImlhdCI6MTY0MTczMzkzNCwiZXhwIjoxNjQxNzM3NTM0LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjMxNzkyIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.LOkD6Tm6-74794zdIQwuP2mDTYun3h_LABwW60MhtIo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you care so much, lobby for high school to go virtual so necessary resources (buses, subs, N95s, etc) can be directed to elementary schools. Stop whining. This is real.

No one needs N95s. Those are respirators. There are vaccines available.

Everyone will get COVID. These people trying so hard to avoid it are just prolonging the pandemic.

CDC is now saying that normal non-diabetic kids who get covid are more likely to develop diabetes afterwards. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-substantially-increases-diabetes-risk-in-kids-cdc-says/3485073/

That also happens when your kids get a cold, right?

For people with genetic predisposition to type 1 diabetes (like my brother), yes- viral infections (“colds”- a very squishy word) can trigger the autoimmune response that results in expression of the disease.

How do you know if you have a predisposition or not though?

[Anonymous]

If you’re that concerned about the increased risk of diabetes, go live in your bubble. Let the rest of us with a higher risk tolerance live our lives.

[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:Hoping for virtual for HS as soon as possible. Most kids can manage themselves, AP students have an opportunity to not fall behind (because fewer teachers will get infected and be out), and working parents shouldn’t need to take a day off from work to supervise them (they should be able to fix their own lunch at this point).

It would be great if APS could be proactive and do that. But their hands are tied by 1303. Thanks, APE and OpenFCPS.

As someone with early elementary kids, I'm enormously grateful that APS is pressured to stay open. Virtual is worthless.

Yup. I’m another one who won’t have my early elementary child participate if it’s virtual. What are they going to do? Nothing.

But maybe they could ensure ES stays home by directing scarce staff resources (subs, bus drivers, etc.) to the ES. They could do that if they had authority to place MS and/or HS in virtual mode. But they lack that authority.

There is zero reason to believe they would do that. It didn’t happen last year, it wouldn’t happen this year.

It would be totally consistent with SB1303. The only reason it won't is because Duran and Loft are incompetent and don't care about educating early elementary. They've gotten the shift since the beginning.

WTF is wrong with you? Why are you so out of touch with reality & hostile?

Instead of attacking me, perhaps reply to the facts? What is Duran's plan for ensuring learning for K-2 kids who can't meaningfully access virtual learning? Having seen the terrible test scores, have you seen any evidence that he's going to do anything differently from last year? That is the source of a great deal of frustration. His equitable solution is no learning for those students, plus no plan for learning recovery.

Basically this. My first grader missed half a year of preschool (ours closed overnight like many others in March 2020), spent the bulk of his K year in virtual school with only a few months of 2-day per week hybrid, and was just now in a pretty good place with in-person 1st grade. It has taken Herculean efforts and an incredible amount of privilege (being able to hire a pod teacher, educated parents who can supplement, etc.) to even be in this position at all and now I’m worried the solution to the inevitable staffing issues will once again be to treat these young kids as if they’re the same as teenagers who can engage in distance learning.

And I’m tired of being gaslighted by a segment of society who thinks this continues to be ok because the infinitesimal risk of death/serious disease for vaccinated adults. Must be nice to be able to wring your hands over tiny hypothetical risks while parents of young kids have suffered actual harm over the last 2 years. I don’t even have the energy anymore to care about what could happen if sick with COVID because I’ve been so busy dealing with the actual damage of the pandemic response to COVID. Yes, I know hospitals are getting full. But like so many on here use as a refrain “it’s not the job of the schools to fix society’s problems.” Why don’t we let the politicians, private sector, healthcare workers, etc. figure out how to get community spread down and have the school systems focus on actually educating kids, which is, you know their entire.freaking.purpose.

If elementary schools go virtual, I hope all parents of young kids boycott this mess. I honestly don’t think APS should get to count this toward academic hours because they’re not actually educating students. If the test scores drop even more, then perhaps Duran will have to finally come up with a solution or get booted.

You need to wrap your head around the fact that the next month or two are going to be rough and there are likely going to be disruptions.

If we really want to prioritize schools and learning, the way to do it is to close everything except for grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, places like Target, etc. Restaurants can stay open, but shut down indoor dining. Close the bars. Shut down pro sports, school sports, rec sports, travel sports and gym and put everyone back under stay-at-home orders. If we do that, the schools have a fighting chance of staying open consistently over the next couple of months. No one wants to do that, so good luck. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

+1 I totally agree with you. But LOL for the person you're responding to. There is no way that she will stay at home. She wants to go out, go to bars & restaurants, go to games and travel. Because she has to be free. She does want her cake and to eat it, too.

I'm a different poster, but I don't know why you think that the PP is so unsafe. Since the Omicron surge we've been especially careful. No large family gatherings over the holidays. We wear kn95s in all indoor public places. Only outdoor playdates and activities (mostly sledding). Our priority is having our kids healthy for school. They really, really need to be in school.

We've been very careful too and our kids picked it up from an outdoor snow playdate. In hindsight, I just wish we had gotten it over break so my kids didn't have to miss a week and half more school now.