Gov. Press Conf. today: Vaccines ARE NOT the metric to use for getting kids back to school

[Anonymous]

Did anyone listen to the Governor's press conf. today? An astute reporter specifically asked what the gov. thought about how long it would take to get teachers vaccinated and whether that was a metric school boards (particularly those in Nova) should be using to determine when to return kids to school.

The gov. specifically rejected using "when teachers are vaccinated" as a basis for determining when to bring kids back to school. He said the other mitigation measures are the things to focus on.

(it's in the last 10 min. of the press conf. if you want to hear it https://www.facebook.com/GovernorVA/ see time marker 53:44)

[Anonymous]

Finally some sense from that guy.

[Anonymous]

They said that last week.

[Anonymous]

The FCPS teacher association/union is now saying that they don't want to return to in-person until teachers and students receive the vaccines.

[Anonymous]

This is good. But he needs to put more pressure on a date and leave no room for excuses.

[Anonymous]

FCPS seems to do whatever they want regardless of what the governor says.

[Anonymous]

That's what Hogan said. I wonder if Mayor Bowser is also on that same page.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS seems to do whatever they want regardless of what the governor says.

Unfortunately

[Anonymous]

Some of us have been saying that forever but others choose to say its a requirement. Its about numbers. Want numbers down, be part of the solution, not problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS teacher association/union is now saying that they don't want to return to in-person until teachers and students receive the vaccines.

Which one? There are 3. FEA?

It seems FEA backtracked in that a bit, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of us have been saying that forever but others choose to say its a requirement. Its about numbers. Want numbers down, be part of the solution, not problem.

excerpt from CNN article today:

"It feels like schools are the only thing closed. In northern Virginia, you can throw back beers late at night indoors at a bar. You can send your kid in person to private school. You can shop indoors at pretty much every type of establishment. You can gather for coffee, go to the farmers market, get a parking ticket, pay a parking ticket and pretty much anything else you want, as long as you wear a mask and follow social distance guidelines.
You cannot, if you're a kid, go to public school. My kids' district has set a mid-February target for younger kids who choose to return to the classroom. Schools have been completely closed since March. The number of children failing classes, particularly Black and brown kids, has skyrocketed.
But the district has missed previous markers to put special needs kids back in classrooms. It has set metrics, based on the spread of Covid in the community. It seems very unlikely those metrics will be met. Parents are expecting a notice pushing off the mid-February delay."

Why is Northam allowing this but not making a hard stance on a date to open schools statewide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS teacher association/union is now saying that they don't want to return to in-person until teachers and students receive the vaccines[b].

If that comes to pass, schools would be unlikely to open next fall. Maybe all adults will be vaxed by then, but the chance of children being able to get it by then is pretty low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS teacher association/union is now saying that they don't want to return to in-person until teachers and students receive the vaccines.

Which one? There are 3. FEA?

It seems FEA backtracked in that a bit, no?

Yes, they got backlash for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS teacher association/union is now saying that they don't want to return to in-person until teachers and students receive the vaccines.

[b]If that comes to pass, schools would be unlikely to open next fall. Maybe all adults will be vaxed by then, but the chance of children being able to get it by then is pretty low.

^^Yes, we've been saying this forever. That is the point that is outraging parents, students, and the quiet majority of teachers who want to return to the classroom.

Once again, the goal posts keep moving. First it was low metrics (the definition of "low metrics" was debatable). Then the demand for plentiful PPE. Then for it was for allowing for ADA requests, DL, hybrid options. Then it was vaccines for teachers. Now it's vaccines for kids too (which is impossible to ever achieve anytime in the next year or two).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The FCPS teacher association/union is now saying that they don't want to return to in-person until teachers and students receive the vaccines.

[b]If that comes to pass, schools would be unlikely to open next fall. Maybe all adults will be vaxed by then, but the chance of children being able to get it by then is pretty low.

^^Yes, we've been saying this forever. That is the point that is outraging parents, students, and the quiet majority of teachers who want to return to the classroom.

Once again, the goal posts keep moving. First it was low metrics (the definition of "low metrics" was debatable). Then the demand for plentiful PPE. Then for it was for allowing for ADA requests, DL, hybrid options. Then it was vaccines for teachers. Now it's vaccines for kids too (which is impossible to ever achieve anytime in the next year or two).

Honestly, two things. Most teachers were frustrated with the metrics changing. If they stuck to the metrics they originally put forth it would be clear when to do DL and when to be in person. Secondly, a lot of blame is being put on teachers but patents added to this mess too. DL was originally supposed to be for medical needs. Parents flipped and changed it. Teachers with want actual metrics that make sense ( non of this mitigation strategies stuff) or vaccinations.