no progress on virtual learning plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

+1. These people who claim to speak for “all parents” and say that virtual school failed everyone must not be very familiar with modern education. It certainly wasn’t ideal in all circumstances, but for kids older than grade 4, it’s fine. And if all kids don’t show up perfectly ready to learn online, let’s not forget the MCPS has a high degree of in-person absenteeism as well.

Sometimes you have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. But I guess complaining about everything is a good excuse for McPS to do nothing even as the rest of the country adopts these plans to be prepared for emergencies.

And for kids below grade 4? What about them? And what about kids with special needs? They don't matter?

Gee. I guess that NYC with its student body of 1 million, and Boston and Anne Arundel and Alexandria and Baltimore must not have any kids with IEPs or kids under grade 4 since they managed to figure out a virtual learning plan.

Your ignorance isn’t cute. Other school districts make it work. Happy to contribute to a go fund me so that McPS staff can buy a bus ticket to some of these other cities to see how the other school districts do it.

Some schools "make it work" by screwing over a large portion of students.

Many other schools choose not to do that, instead incorporating an appropriate number of days to their calendars from the start while also implementing make-up days. That's the better option for more students. But that's not your concern- you just don't want your vacation plans interrupted.

Yes far better to be like MCPS and screw over ALL students so that they don’t get the required number of instructional days like the rest of the country and ask for a waiver to the state of Maryland year after year.

Meanwhile schools tell students not to bother coming to the new days in late June because all the teachers will be calling in sick and on vacation.

So no virtual learning because we don’t want to mess with the extra vacation snow days provide MCPS staff right?

You went skiing not anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

+1. These people who claim to speak for “all parents” and say that virtual school failed everyone must not be very familiar with modern education. It certainly wasn’t ideal in all circumstances, but for kids older than grade 4, it’s fine. And if all kids don’t show up perfectly ready to learn online, let’s not forget the MCPS has a high degree of in-person absenteeism as well.

Sometimes you have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. But I guess complaining about everything is a good excuse for McPS to do nothing even as the rest of the country adopts these plans to be prepared for emergencies.

And for kids below grade 4? What about them? And what about kids with special needs? They don't matter?

Gee. I guess that NYC with its student body of 1 million, and Boston and Anne Arundel and Alexandria and Baltimore must not have any kids with IEPs or kids under grade 4 since they managed to figure out a virtual learning plan.

Your ignorance isn’t cute. Other school districts make it work. Happy to contribute to a go fund me so that McPS staff can buy a bus ticket to some of these other cities to see how the other school districts do it.

Some schools "make it work" by screwing over a large portion of students.

Many other schools choose not to do that, instead incorporating an appropriate number of days to their calendars from the start while also implementing make-up days. That's the better option for more students. But that's not your concern- you just don't want your vacation plans interrupted.

Yes far better to be like MCPS and screw over ALL students so that they don’t get the required number of instructional days like the rest of the country and ask for a waiver to the state of Maryland year after year.

Meanwhile schools tell students not to bother coming to the new days in late June because all the teachers will be calling in sick and on vacation.

So no virtual learning because we don’t want to mess with the extra vacation snow days provide MCPS staff right?

You went skiing not anyone else.

Are you talking to your imaginary friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

They are harmful if MCPS continues on this lazy trajectory of not providing 180 days of instruction. Massachusetts schedules 185 days a year so that students will have a minimum of 180. MCPS wants to have fewer instructional days than required because it’s easier for staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

They are harmful if MCPS continues on this lazy trajectory of not providing 180 days of instruction. Massachusetts schedules 185 days a year so that students will have a minimum of 180. MCPS wants to have fewer instructional days than required because it’s easier for staff.

If we scheduled 185 days of school, then most years we would have more than 180 days. Is that what people want??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

They are harmful if MCPS continues on this lazy trajectory of not providing 180 days of instruction. Massachusetts schedules 185 days a year so that students will have a minimum of 180. MCPS wants to have fewer instructional days than required because it’s easier for staff.

If we scheduled 185 days of school, then most years we would have more than 180 days. Is that what people want??

You schedule it so you have snow days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I have a kindergartner and both my husband and I have no telework options. During the past snowstorm, our work reopened Wednesday and our younger child's private day care reopened Tuesday. We were still snowed in Wednesday, but sent my kindergartner to the younger child's daycare Thursday and Friday and to school based care on Monday. If any of those days had been virtual, he would have mostly skipped it. The private day care I think would have tried to get him at least dialed in but no way would global have been able to get all the kids into virtual school.

I don't know. Maybe virtual is still the right answer with the understanding that younger kids will get little to nothing out of it. But I would be concerned that if virtual is an option, there would be even less push to reopen schools or use identified makeup days and that is going to hurt younger children.

Yes, your kindergartner probably won’t get much out of the virtual days. My high schooler won’t get anything out of the silly end of June days when their AP test is already over. Both perspectives are legit but the school system needs to balance everyone’s needs better. Truthfully all but the very youngest learners can do virtual just fine for a one off situation and if the youngest opt out it is really not a big deal. As for those who keep asking about special needs, my kid has special needs and does fine/well with virtual. He’s not the only one. And for those who may even have more support needs, it is my understanding that they qualify for/receive lots of extra school days/hours over the summer so they are definitely receiving more than 180 days a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

They are harmful if MCPS continues on this lazy trajectory of not providing 180 days of instruction. Massachusetts schedules 185 days a year so that students will have a minimum of 180. MCPS wants to have fewer instructional days than required because it’s easier for staff.

If we scheduled 185 days of school, then most years we would have more than 180 days. Is that what people want??

I personally think it would help Larlo read if he had more school days but where I grew up in NY, we had 4 snow days built in and if we didn’t use them all school ended earlier in June. It was all very predictable-by March you knew exactly when school would end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

+1. These people who claim to speak for “all parents” and say that virtual school failed everyone must not be very familiar with modern education. It certainly wasn’t ideal in all circumstances, but for kids older than grade 4, it’s fine. And if all kids don’t show up perfectly ready to learn online, let’s not forget the MCPS has a high degree of in-person absenteeism as well.

Sometimes you have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. But I guess complaining about everything is a good excuse for McPS to do nothing even as the rest of the country adopts these plans to be prepared for emergencies.

And for kids below grade 4? What about them? And what about kids with special needs? They don't matter?

Gee. I guess that NYC with its student body of 1 million, and Boston and Anne Arundel and Alexandria and Baltimore must not have any kids with IEPs or kids under grade 4 since they managed to figure out a virtual learning plan.

Your ignorance isn’t cute. Other school districts make it work. Happy to contribute to a go fund me so that McPS staff can buy a bus ticket to some of these other cities to see how the other school districts do it.

Some schools "make it work" by screwing over a large portion of students.

Many other schools choose not to do that, instead incorporating an appropriate number of days to their calendars from the start while also implementing make-up days. That's the better option for more students. But that's not your concern- you just don't want your vacation plans interrupted.

Yes far better to be like MCPS and screw over ALL students so that they don’t get the required number of instructional days like the rest of the country and ask for a waiver to the state of Maryland year after year.

Meanwhile schools tell students not to bother coming to the new days in late June because all the teachers will be calling in sick and on vacation.

So no virtual learning because we don’t want to mess with the extra vacation snow days provide MCPS staff right?

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I have a kindergartner and both my husband and I have no telework options. During the past snowstorm, our work reopened Wednesday and our younger child's private day care reopened Tuesday. We were still snowed in Wednesday, but sent my kindergartner to the younger child's daycare Thursday and Friday and to school based care on Monday. If any of those days had been virtual, he would have mostly skipped it. The private day care I think would have tried to get him at least dialed in but no way would global have been able to get all the kids into virtual school.

I don't know. Maybe virtual is still the right answer with the understanding that younger kids will get little to nothing out of it. But I would be concerned that if virtual is an option, there would be even less push to reopen schools or use identified makeup days and that is going to hurt younger children.

Yes, your kindergartner probably won’t get much out of the virtual days. My high schooler won’t get anything out of the silly end of June days when their AP test is already over. Both perspectives are legit but the school system needs to balance everyone’s needs better. Truthfully all but the very youngest learners can do virtual just fine for a one off situation and if the youngest opt out it is really not a big deal. As for those who keep asking about special needs, my kid has special needs and does fine/well with virtual. He’s not the only one. And for those who may even have more support needs, it is my understanding that they qualify for/receive lots of extra school days/hours over the summer so they are definitely receiving more than 180 days a year.

My sn kid did better in virtual due to the set up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

They are harmful if MCPS continues on this lazy trajectory of not providing 180 days of instruction. Massachusetts schedules 185 days a year so that students will have a minimum of 180. MCPS wants to have fewer instructional days than required because it’s easier for staff.

If we scheduled 185 days of school, then most years we would have more than 180 days. Is that what people want??

I personally think it would help Larlo read if he had more school days but where I grew up in NY, we had 4 snow days built in and if we didn’t use them all school ended earlier in June. It was all very predictable-by March you knew exactly when school would end.

The cost is nothing. Kids have chromebooks and zoom. Parents need to work with Karli on reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

+1. These people who claim to speak for “all parents” and say that virtual school failed everyone must not be very familiar with modern education. It certainly wasn’t ideal in all circumstances, but for kids older than grade 4, it’s fine. And if all kids don’t show up perfectly ready to learn online, let’s not forget the MCPS has a high degree of in-person absenteeism as well.

Sometimes you have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. But I guess complaining about everything is a good excuse for McPS to do nothing even as the rest of the country adopts these plans to be prepared for emergencies.

And for kids below grade 4? What about them? And what about kids with special needs? They don't matter?

Gee. I guess that NYC with its student body of 1 million, and Boston and Anne Arundel and Alexandria and Baltimore must not have any kids with IEPs or kids under grade 4 since they managed to figure out a virtual learning plan.

Your ignorance isn’t cute. Other school districts make it work. Happy to contribute to a go fund me so that McPS staff can buy a bus ticket to some of these other cities to see how the other school districts do it.

Some schools "make it work" by screwing over a large portion of students.

Many other schools choose not to do that, instead incorporating an appropriate number of days to their calendars from the start while also implementing make-up days. That's the better option for more students. But that's not your concern- you just don't want your vacation plans interrupted.

Yes far better to be like MCPS and screw over ALL students so that they don’t get the required number of instructional days like the rest of the country and ask for a waiver to the state of Maryland year after year.

Meanwhile schools tell students not to bother coming to the new days in late June because all the teachers will be calling in sick and on vacation.

So no virtual learning because we don’t want to mess with the extra vacation snow days provide MCPS staff right?

This.

So what happens now that there’s another storm coming for Sunday night?
Will McPS still refuse to use the makeup days it built into its calendar? Will BoE arise from their slumber and make McPS follow the plans they submitted?

The National Weather Service has updated their alerts for the storm. These are in effect late Sunday afternoon into Monday morning:

* The Beltway area is now under a Winter Weather Advisory.

* A more significant Winter Storm Warning has been issued for areas west, north, east, and southeast of the Beltway area, where NWS expects heavier snow that could reach or exceed 5 inches.

* Blizzard Warning on the Eastern Shore (yikes!!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I have a kindergartner and both my husband and I have no telework options. During the past snowstorm, our work reopened Wednesday and our younger child's private day care reopened Tuesday. We were still snowed in Wednesday, but sent my kindergartner to the younger child's daycare Thursday and Friday and to school based care on Monday. If any of those days had been virtual, he would have mostly skipped it. The private day care I think would have tried to get him at least dialed in but no way would global have been able to get all the kids into virtual school.

I don't know. Maybe virtual is still the right answer with the understanding that younger kids will get little to nothing out of it. But I would be concerned that if virtual is an option, there would be even less push to reopen schools or use identified makeup days and that is going to hurt younger children.

The school-based child cares can facilitate virtual learning just fine. They did that for a whole year during COVID for elementary school kids whose parents couldn't be home with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

+1. These people who claim to speak for “all parents” and say that virtual school failed everyone must not be very familiar with modern education. It certainly wasn’t ideal in all circumstances, but for kids older than grade 4, it’s fine. And if all kids don’t show up perfectly ready to learn online, let’s not forget the MCPS has a high degree of in-person absenteeism as well.

Sometimes you have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. But I guess complaining about everything is a good excuse for McPS to do nothing even as the rest of the country adopts these plans to be prepared for emergencies.

And for kids below grade 4? What about them? And what about kids with special needs? They don't matter?

Gee. I guess that NYC with its student body of 1 million, and Boston and Anne Arundel and Alexandria and Baltimore must not have any kids with IEPs or kids under grade 4 since they managed to figure out a virtual learning plan.

Your ignorance isn’t cute. Other school districts make it work. Happy to contribute to a go fund me so that McPS staff can buy a bus ticket to some of these other cities to see how the other school districts do it.

Some schools "make it work" by screwing over a large portion of students.

Many other schools choose not to do that, instead incorporating an appropriate number of days to their calendars from the start while also implementing make-up days. That's the better option for more students. But that's not your concern- you just don't want your vacation plans interrupted.

Yes far better to be like MCPS and screw over ALL students so that they don’t get the required number of instructional days like the rest of the country and ask for a waiver to the state of Maryland year after year.

Meanwhile schools tell students not to bother coming to the new days in late June because all the teachers will be calling in sick and on vacation.

So no virtual learning because we don’t want to mess with the extra vacation snow days provide MCPS staff right?

This.

So what happens now that there’s another storm coming for Sunday night?
Will McPS still refuse to use the makeup days it built into its calendar? Will BoE arise from their slumber and make McPS follow the plans they submitted?

The National Weather Service has updated their alerts for the storm. These are in effect late Sunday afternoon into Monday morning:

* The Beltway area is now under a Winter Weather Advisory.

* A more significant Winter Storm Warning has been issued for areas west, north, east, and southeast of the Beltway area, where NWS expects heavier snow that could reach or exceed 5 inches.

* Blizzard Warning on the Eastern Shore (yikes!!)

They will extend the year from Thurs June 25 to Fri June 26... that's a pretty easy one, it would make no sense to do things any differently.

Now if there are two or more snow days that would be a much bigger issue... but this does not at all look like a storm that's likely to close school for multiple days.

[Anonymous]

Anne Arundel county is looking pretty smart having an approved virtual learning plan for snow that they used during the last snow storm, and having built in 3 snow days into the calendar.

MCPS is the stupid Maryland county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

+1. These people who claim to speak for “all parents” and say that virtual school failed everyone must not be very familiar with modern education. It certainly wasn’t ideal in all circumstances, but for kids older than grade 4, it’s fine. And if all kids don’t show up perfectly ready to learn online, let’s not forget the MCPS has a high degree of in-person absenteeism as well.

Sometimes you have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. But I guess complaining about everything is a good excuse for McPS to do nothing even as the rest of the country adopts these plans to be prepared for emergencies.

And for kids below grade 4? What about them? And what about kids with special needs? They don't matter?

Gee. I guess that NYC with its student body of 1 million, and Boston and Anne Arundel and Alexandria and Baltimore must not have any kids with IEPs or kids under grade 4 since they managed to figure out a virtual learning plan.

Your ignorance isn’t cute. Other school districts make it work. Happy to contribute to a go fund me so that McPS staff can buy a bus ticket to some of these other cities to see how the other school districts do it.

Some schools "make it work" by screwing over a large portion of students.

Many other schools choose not to do that, instead incorporating an appropriate number of days to their calendars from the start while also implementing make-up days. That's the better option for more students. But that's not your concern- you just don't want your vacation plans interrupted.

Yes far better to be like MCPS and screw over ALL students so that they don’t get the required number of instructional days like the rest of the country and ask for a waiver to the state of Maryland year after year.

Meanwhile schools tell students not to bother coming to the new days in late June because all the teachers will be calling in sick and on vacation.

So no virtual learning because we don’t want to mess with the extra vacation snow days provide MCPS staff right?

+1 This.