APS: Why Ignoring CDC Recommendations for Cohorts for Middle and High School?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone explain why APS is just outright ignoring CDC recommendations that students be in cohorts for their middle and high school return to school plans? A middle or high school student at a high hybrid school could be exposed to 9 kids or so in each class, five classes a day. With A/B days that means exposure to close to 90 different kids each week. Very few are talking about this on these boards.

Why can't APS (and others) recognize that they are able to open elementary consistent with CDC recommendations, but not middle and high school. They chose not to cohort them. These are the consequences. Are they just hoping to get away with ignoring CDC recommendations in their re-opening plans for middle and high school????

See Washington Post article from yesterday: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/cdc-school-virus-spread/2021/01/26/bf949222-5fe6-11eb-9061-07abcc1f9229_story.html

And here's the relevant paragraph:
Specifically, the CDC recommends that schools require masks, allow for a distance of six feet between people and keep students in cohorts to limit the number of people who must quarantine in the case of an exposure. It also recommends screening tests to identify asymptomatic infected people, and increased air ventilation.

Why aren't more parents raising this with the School Board?

[Anonymous]

How do you cohort students who are all taking different classes? Does someone have to drop down a level in math or switch to a different foreign language to fit a cohort?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you cohort students who are all taking different classes? Does someone have to drop down a level in math or switch to a different foreign language to fit a cohort?

Maybe

I am pretty sure that my friends' kids in NYC middle and high school were cohorted.
somehow they got 10 kids together whose class schedules were similar enough.

It can definitely work for middle school.

High school would be trickier.

[Anonymous]

Are you serious with this question? APS could not handle the logistics of hybrid for self-contained K-2 classrooms in September, when COVID numbers were much better in the region! And now you expect them do be able to handle this level of organization for high school!!? MAYBE they could figure cohorts for HS students by Q3 of the 2021-2022 school year. Maybe. And then none of the parents would be happy because Larla would be not get one of her class choices in her devised cohort. Fury ensues! School return postponed forever.

[Anonymous]

My child is in middle school. There are no two or even 10-20 kids taking the same 8 classes so how would you do that?

[Anonymous]

This is why I kept DL for my kid. Makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Well, if it’s not practical, does that just mean they open anyway and ignore CDC recommendations? Or do middle and high need to stay virtual to ensure student safety and compliance with CDC??

[Anonymous]

I know other school systems did this.

[Anonymous]

I'm not saying it's not practical. Bishop O'Connell is doing this now. But APS is incapable of 1) solving tricky logistical issues and 2) telling parents that they might not get exactly what they want in terms of class selection/peer cohorts. So good luck with CDC compliance on this element with APS administration.

[Anonymous]

APS can't even manage to sort the logistics for K-2 kids who don't change classrooms. Can we please just let APS focus on that problem for now and see where we are once elementary is back? They really can't manage multiple workstreams.

[Anonymous]

We chose hybrid for our ES but decided to keep our MS virtual because we did not understand the APS MS plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We chose hybrid for our ES but decided to keep our MS virtual because we did not understand the APS MS plan.

We did the same. No way I'm exposing my MS or HS kids to all those people. But we chose hybrid for ES son.

[Anonymous]

Because you can’t cohort them! My elementary kid stays in one class all day. My high school students have 8 different classes of different levels and subjects.

[Anonymous]

I think this is why many other jurisdictions have elementary back, but not middle or high. Even the Biden plan doesn’t ask for high school back in 100 days. They recognize that if you don’t cohort you can’t pull this off. Of course, APS has a middle school problem too. I hope they recognize this. It won’t be safe for students otherwise, according to the CDC.

[Anonymous]

That’s a damn good question.