Allegedly there are several options for the fall none of which include being back full time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok so no one is closing the schools forever and letting the kids run around like feral cats. We are in the middle of a once in a hundred year event. Everything is gonna be suboptimal. If the kids have one crappy year of school they will be ok. Guess what, they're all having a crappy year of school. No one is getting ahead of your little Larla. If you want to yell about what should and shouldn't be open, go ahead but you are tilting at windmills. BTW death IS forever so yeah. We'll get through this. We will be ok. They don't need THAT many sign spinners on Rockville Pike so someone will ultimately hire Larla.

Well, most kids will be ok, in the long run. That's a very low bar, though. And some kids will be not even ok, not in the short run, not in the long run.

If your goal is to avoid all covid deaths, then you need to shut everything down. But we're not doing that. So yeah.

Even with schools open there are tons of kids who won't or would never be ok. Frankly, as I've said before I think we should prioritize getting the most vulnerable back in the classrooms and all the others do DL . That would be the best thing for society but we can't have people in MontCo give anything up for anyone else.

How about we prioritize getting all of the kids back in the classrooms? That way, we don't have to sit around trying to decide who's the most vulnerable.

That ignores people whose vulnerability is health-related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want my child to go back to school too. However, I understand, just like stores, workspaces, etc. the maximum capacity will be 50%. Therefore, to make that work, every child will not be able to go back to school full time in MoCo. Either MCPS prioritizes some kids, e.g., ES, ESOL, FARM, etc. or all kids will have to go in person a few days a week, as NoVA public schools are proposing.

I don't understand how some people on this board think that all kids will go back fulltime in the fall based on the limitations in this county, e.g., space, existing overcrowding, bus schedules, etc.

You probably haven't been taking buses during covid, but lots of other people have. The buses have been crowded, because bus frequency was reduced. The transit agencies put up shields for the drivers and required everyone to wear masks. The MCPS transportation department can do that too. Plus school bus windows can be opened.

The transit agencies did not say, oh, it can't be done, so instead we'll just stop running the buses.

In MoCo they built partitions to protect the RideOn drivers and made riders board from the rear. Maybe MCPS will give a roll of Saran Wrap for my head and tell my students to crawl in through the second floor window?

Is your classroom in a bus?

No, but 200 students and 5 adults pass through there 8 am to 3 pm. Sometimes, there’s a dog —permitted under ADA. It’s dirty, hot, and crowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm typing this as slowly as I can so you can understand, we don't have the space or the money to do that. Wish we did but we don't so we have to pick and choose. Jesus it is a pandemic and your kid isn't the ONLY thing that matters now.

"Almost every state's legislature is expected to reconvene in the coming weeks to cut billions of dollars from their budgets. The coronavirus-driven shutdown of the economy caused a precipitous drop in income and sales tax revenue, which states heavily rely on. 

Without another federal infusion of aid for states on the horizon, the consequences for public schools will be swift and severe. More than half of the nation’s school districts get the majority of their revenue from state aid. These districts, on average, serve a disproportionate number of poor, black, and Latino students, many of whom were lagging academically before the crisis abruptly closed schoolhouse doors this spring.  It's well-documented that it will cost billions of dollars more for schools to reopen this fall and to get children back on track. "

Yeah, we do. It's probably true that we don't have the space or the money to do it *the way you believe it should be done*, but that's different issue.

So how would you do it and how would you fund it?

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/891349.page

Ok so totally doable if we lived in a completely different country with different people and leaders and culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm typing this as slowly as I can so you can understand, we don't have the space or the money to do that. Wish we did but we don't so we have to pick and choose. Jesus it is a pandemic and your kid isn't the ONLY thing that matters now.

"Almost every state's legislature is expected to reconvene in the coming weeks to cut billions of dollars from their budgets. The coronavirus-driven shutdown of the economy caused a precipitous drop in income and sales tax revenue, which states heavily rely on. 

Without another federal infusion of aid for states on the horizon, the consequences for public schools will be swift and severe. More than half of the nation’s school districts get the majority of their revenue from state aid. These districts, on average, serve a disproportionate number of poor, black, and Latino students, many of whom were lagging academically before the crisis abruptly closed schoolhouse doors this spring.  It's well-documented that it will cost billions of dollars more for schools to reopen this fall and to get children back on track. "

Yeah, we do. It's probably true that we don't have the space or the money to do it *the way you believe it should be done*, but that's different issue.

So how would you do it and how would you fund it?

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/891349.page

Ok so totally doable if we lived in a completely different country with different people and leaders and culture.

Not really. This is a county and state decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Even with schools open there are tons of kids who won't or would never be ok. Frankly, as I've said before I think we should prioritize getting the most vulnerable back in the classrooms and all the others do DL . That would be the best thing for society but we can't have people in MontCo give anything up for anyone else.

How about we prioritize getting all of the kids back in the classrooms? That way, we don't have to sit around trying to decide who's the most vulnerable.

That ignores people whose vulnerability is health-related.

Probably PP was not proposing to prioritize getting the immunocompromised kids back into the classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

No, but 200 students and 5 adults pass through there 8 am to 3 pm. Sometimes, there’s a dog —permitted under ADA. It’s dirty, hot, and crowded.

Serious question. Which classroom do you teach in that has 200 kids, 5 adults, a service dog, and no windows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK go ahead and name a few. You can close restaurants, stores and bars. You can close movie theaters and professional sports. You can have people work from home where possible. This will reduce overall community spread but it will merely slow down, not end, spread in schools. Schools will become the primary vector for family infection and community spread.
If you want to limit spread in schools, the most effective way to do that is cut off modes of transmission by having all kids wear masks, ensuring adequate social distancing (which, given the crowded state of most public schools, means only a fraction of students can be in the building at any given time), and routinely test students and contact trace and require contacts to self isolate for 14 days when positive cases are found.

I suspect this would actually be more disruptive to families' lives then full time distance learning, but it would get kids back in school buildings for at least part of the time.

The goal was to slow down the spread, not end it - right? That's what the whole "flatten the curve" thing was - right? And we have contact tracing and testing to actually eliminate the spread - right?

Testing is getting better, but contact tracing is almost non-existent. We needed a national army of contact tracers and the federal government did nothing about it. In the states that have tried to get it off the ground, it's slow going. You can't create functional public health apparatus out of nothing, and public health was underfunded for way too long before this.

And of course, you have whole states that never really did what they needed to do even to flatten the curve--witness what is happening now in Texas and Florida. We have open borders with those places.

That's factually incorrect. Maryland is doing contact tracing. I know somebody who is doing it in Montgomery County.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-coronavirus-june2-update-20200602-po2teoowdraivbl3vfsf6suytu-story.html

The fact that you know someone who is a contact tracer does not in any way make it “factually incorrect” that we don’t have enough of these people nationwide.

This is the Maryland Public Schools Forum, and we are talking about Montgomery County, Maryland. What is happening now in Texas and Florida is not relevant to what is happening now in Maryland. Especially given that one of the things that is happening now in Maryland is contact tracing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Ok so totally doable if we lived in a completely different country with different people and leaders and culture.

Not really. This is a county and state decision.

For example, the county and/or state could say, if infections start going up again, then we go back to stage 2 closures but with schools open. And then if infections still keep going up, we go back to stage 1 closures but with schools open. And then if infections still keep going up, we go back to the stay-at-home-order closures but with schools open. I.e., schools are among the last things to close, not the first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want my child to go back to school too. However, I understand, just like stores, workspaces, etc. the maximum capacity will be 50%. Therefore, to make that work, every child will not be able to go back to school full time in MoCo. Either MCPS prioritizes some kids, e.g., ES, ESOL, FARM, etc. or all kids will have to go in person a few days a week, as NoVA public schools are proposing.

I don't understand how some people on this board think that all kids will go back fulltime in the fall based on the limitations in this county, e.g., space, existing overcrowding, bus schedules, etc.

They are only at 50% capacity for phase 2, it changes in phase 3 to allow more. Northern Virginia is going to phase 3 July 1st and moco should follow soon after. And that's just the beginning of July-still plenty of time before school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want my child to go back to school too. However, I understand, just like stores, workspaces, etc. the maximum capacity will be 50%. Therefore, to make that work, every child will not be able to go back to school full time in MoCo. Either MCPS prioritizes some kids, e.g., ES, ESOL, FARM, etc. or all kids will have to go in person a few days a week, as NoVA public schools are proposing.

I don't understand how some people on this board think that all kids will go back fulltime in the fall based on the limitations in this county, e.g., space, existing overcrowding, bus schedules, etc.

You probably haven't been taking buses during covid, but lots of other people have. The buses have been crowded, because bus frequency was reduced. The transit agencies put up shields for the drivers and required everyone to wear masks. The MCPS transportation department can do that too. Plus school bus windows can be opened.

The transit agencies did not say, oh, it can't be done, so instead we'll just stop running the buses.

Adults don’t sit three to a seat, take off their masks, and pass around little toys after sneezing on their palms. Not sure if you’ve ever met a child.

If you don't feel comfortable sending your child to school, then don't send your child to school. That's your choice.

No one will be sending their child to school, because schools won't be open. Do you follow the news? The pandemic is getting worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Once again, if you want to prioritize your own children above all else, great. Society will never and has never decided that children are more vital than any other members as a group. I know that for you, three months of remote learning was a catastrophe! For society at large? No. The fall will be what it will be. You need to unclench. If the people in Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, etc. are any indication, none of us will be doing much in August or September.

Dude.

School.

Children (ALL children).

The future (for ALL of us).

My friends who don't have kids get it. If you don't get it, that's unfortunate.

Or would you rather live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK go ahead and name a few. You can close restaurants, stores and bars. You can close movie theaters and professional sports. You can have people work from home where possible. This will reduce overall community spread but it will merely slow down, not end, spread in schools. Schools will become the primary vector for family infection and community spread.
If you want to limit spread in schools, the most effective way to do that is cut off modes of transmission by having all kids wear masks, ensuring adequate social distancing (which, given the crowded state of most public schools, means only a fraction of students can be in the building at any given time), and routinely test students and contact trace and require contacts to self isolate for 14 days when positive cases are found.

I suspect this would actually be more disruptive to families' lives then full time distance learning, but it would get kids back in school buildings for at least part of the time.

The goal was to slow down the spread, not end it - right? That's what the whole "flatten the curve" thing was - right? And we have contact tracing and testing to actually eliminate the spread - right?

Testing is getting better, but contact tracing is almost non-existent. We needed a national army of contact tracers and the federal government did nothing about it. In the states that have tried to get it off the ground, it's slow going. You can't create functional public health apparatus out of nothing, and public health was underfunded for way too long before this.

And of course, you have whole states that never really did what they needed to do even to flatten the curve--witness what is happening now in Texas and Florida. We have open borders with those places.

That's factually incorrect. Maryland is doing contact tracing. I know somebody who is doing it in Montgomery County.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-coronavirus-june2-update-20200602-po2teoowdraivbl3vfsf6suytu-story.html

The fact that you know someone who is a contact tracer does not in any way make it “factually incorrect” that we don’t have enough of these people nationwide.

This is the Maryland Public Schools Forum, and we are talking about Montgomery County, Maryland. What is happening now in Texas and Florida is not relevant to what is happening now in Maryland. Especially given that one of the things that is happening now in Maryland is contact tracing.

Do you understand that there are no meaningful borders between us and other states that are not doing this?

We’re about 3-4 weeks removed from Montgomery County, PA and Montgomery, Alabama...at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want my child to go back to school too. However, I understand, just like stores, workspaces, etc. the maximum capacity will be 50%. Therefore, to make that work, every child will not be able to go back to school full time in MoCo. Either MCPS prioritizes some kids, e.g., ES, ESOL, FARM, etc. or all kids will have to go in person a few days a week, as NoVA public schools are proposing.

I don't understand how some people on this board think that all kids will go back fulltime in the fall based on the limitations in this county, e.g., space, existing overcrowding, bus schedules, etc.

They are only at 50% capacity for phase 2, it changes in phase 3 to allow more. Northern Virginia is going to phase 3 July 1st and moco should follow soon after. And that's just the beginning of July-still plenty of time before school.

That doesn't change the capacity for schools going into phase 3. Read the VA school guidelines. That is why NoVa is limiting in person education to 2 or max 3 days. Schools in the DMV area are too crowded and have space limits that put maximum capacity at approx. 50%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Each one of us contributes to making this a civilized discussion. Let’s take care not to put words into other people’s mouths or tell them they are everything wrong with America. We need to find solutions, not bicker.

You mean we shouldn't tell others that they are "crazy" and "ridiculous" for thinking that schools should be a higher priority than commercial businesses such as hair salons and bars?

Yes, I think we should all quit calling one another crazy and ridiculous, period. Right here, you are putting words in people’s mouths. No one is saying they think bars and hair salons are a higher priority than education. What they and state officials are saying is that it is possible to limit the number of people in a bar or a salon in a way it is completely not possible to do in a school under normal conditions. Please don’t assume other people’s priorities or thoughts are so deficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want my child to go back to school too. However, I understand, just like stores, workspaces, etc. the maximum capacity will be 50%. Therefore, to make that work, every child will not be able to go back to school full time in MoCo. Either MCPS prioritizes some kids, e.g., ES, ESOL, FARM, etc. or all kids will have to go in person a few days a week, as NoVA public schools are proposing.

I don't understand how some people on this board think that all kids will go back fulltime in the fall based on the limitations in this county, e.g., space, existing overcrowding, bus schedules, etc.

They are only at 50% capacity for phase 2, it changes in phase 3 to allow more. Northern Virginia is going to phase 3 July 1st and moco should follow soon after. And that's just the beginning of July-still plenty of time before school.

That doesn't change the capacity for schools going into phase 3. Read the VA school guidelines. That is why NoVa is limiting in person education to 2 or max 3 days. Schools in the DMV area are too crowded and have space limits that put maximum capacity at approx. 50%.

I was replying to the comparison to restaurants and other businesses because the post was implying that was a guideline just in general. It's a guideline specifically for phase 2 and will change. And my point remains-if numbers continue to go down in our area and we keep moving through phases it would be completely ridiculous for schools to remain so restricted when it's an essential service.