APS - School Shifts in the Fall?

[Anonymous]

Looks like return to school will still very much be an issue according to one school board candidate. Mary Kadera on return to school in fall:

"we should be actively exploring a two-shift-per-day model where separate groups of students attend school for five hours per day. For example, Group #1 would attend from 7 am to noon, and Group #2 would be onsite from 1 pm to 6 pm."

http://www.maryforschoolboard.org/return-to-school.html

[Anonymous]

How would this be staffed? How would buses be able to provide transportation for the middle of the day runs? I just don't see the funding available for this.

[Anonymous]

Not surprised. She’s called for very unpopular moves before. She’s advocated to lift class limit sizes to save $ and increased hiring of admin staff, which is the last thing we need!

[Anonymous]

Insane

[Anonymous]

Well that settles my vote for Miranda.

[Anonymous]

that would be a nightmare for high schoolers. Athletes would have to do the early shift so they could have practices, but no high schooler I know is remotely useful at 7am. They are barely able to get online by 8:25 from their own beds, never mind getting to physical school for that start time. My child would be a zombie.

[Anonymous]

How would this even come close to the required hours of instruction in VA??:

[Anonymous]

Actually, OP pulled one line out of context and it's VERY misleading. Read the whole page. She's laying out what needs to be done to return to 5 full days if 3ft of distancing is still required. She lays out the multiple steps to make the determination if we have the capacity to make that possible in all buildings, and if not, what are the alternatives one of which is two shifts to allow all kids five days per week. She's laying out all the other pieces of the puzzle including transportation, extended day and lunch (and she advocates for funding temporary outdoor lunch facilities or identifying other indoor options).

There is a lot of thought and detail going into this plan, do not default to OP's one liner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, OP pulled one line out of context and it's VERY misleading. Read the whole page. She's laying out what needs to be done to return to 5 full days if 3ft of distancing is still required. She lays out the multiple steps to make the determination if we have the capacity to make that possible in all buildings, and if not, what are the alternatives one of which is two shifts to allow all kids five days per week. She's laying out all the other pieces of the puzzle including transportation, extended day and lunch (and she advocates for funding temporary outdoor lunch facilities or identifying other indoor options).

There is a lot of thought and detail going into this plan, do not default to OP's one liner.

Thank you for clarifying. OP’s spin makes this lady sound batsh!t crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, OP pulled one line out of context and it's VERY misleading. Read the whole page. She's laying out what needs to be done to return to 5 full days if 3ft of distancing is still required. She lays out the multiple steps to make the determination if we have the capacity to make that possible in all buildings, and if not, what are the alternatives one of which is two shifts to allow all kids five days per week. She's laying out all the other pieces of the puzzle including transportation, extended day and lunch (and she advocates for funding temporary outdoor lunch facilities or identifying other indoor options).

There is a lot of thought and detail going into this plan, do not default to OP's one liner.

Not OP but I am one of the PPs and I read everything. I don't think her handmade cutouts are accurate-- why would you need 3 ft between a desk and a wall? Shouldn't desks be pushed against walls and corners where possible to increase the amount of desks you can fit in a room if you're maintaining 3ft between people?

[Anonymous]

Just to help me understand - why would we have to do all this in the fall when all adults and many of the students are vaccinated? I know Arlington is very risk averse, but states like Georgia and Florida sent their students in person with few mitigation measures during the height of the pandemic - and it was mostly fine! Why do we need to tie ourselves in knots now that we have vaccines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, OP pulled one line out of context and it's VERY misleading. Read the whole page. She's laying out what needs to be done to return to 5 full days if 3ft of distancing is still required. She lays out the multiple steps to make the determination if we have the capacity to make that possible in all buildings, and if not, what are the alternatives one of which is two shifts to allow all kids five days per week. She's laying out all the other pieces of the puzzle including transportation, extended day and lunch (and she advocates for funding temporary outdoor lunch facilities or identifying other indoor options).

There is a lot of thought and detail going into this plan, do not default to OP's one liner.

Sure....Plan A is CDC lifts 3 ft distancing requirement because otherwise we can't fit everyone under the current guidelines. The OP's quote is Plan B and is not misleading. Does anyone really think the CDC is going to lift 3 ft guidelines when kids are still unvaccinated? NOPE. This is Mary's plan B.

[Anonymous]

Duran's message today announced they will have COVID testing in schools - why are we not using this more widely to get everyone back full-time??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duran's message today announced they will have COVID testing in schools - why are we not using this more widely to get everyone back full-time??

Only for those exposed, not as a proactive measure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to help me understand - why would we have to do all this in the fall when all adults and many of the students are vaccinated? I know Arlington is very risk averse, but states like Georgia and Florida sent their students in person with few mitigation measures during the height of the pandemic - and it was mostly fine! Why do we need to tie ourselves in knots now that we have vaccines?

This. All adults eligible this month. Younger teens eligible soon. I'm fine with zero distancing in classrooms and on buses with mandatory mask wearing. Lunch can be figured out in the next 5 months!