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

[Anonymous]

The AAP document basically says, "Sure, try some masks and social distancing, but if it proves not feasible then, oh well, because school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The AAP document basically says, "Sure, try some masks and social distancing, but if it proves not feasible then, oh well, because school."

No, that's not what it says. Though it does say, "Policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within schools must be balanced with the known harms to children, adolescents, families, and the community by keeping children at home."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The AAP document basically says, "Sure, try some masks and social distancing, but if it proves not feasible then, oh well, because school."

No, that's not what it says. Though it does say, "Policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within schools must be balanced with the known harms to children, adolescents, families, and the community by keeping children at home."

So yeah, that’s what it says. New poster, by the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS should focus on making the online learning experience stronger. They should put all the focus on that. Sending the kids back for two days a week is just not responsible while the pandemic is spreading. Once more is known about the virus or a vaccine is available, then go back to full time in the building school. Sending the students back and expecting them to wear masks and social distance is irresponsible.

I'm hopeful that educators will learn a lot about DL from this and it will get a lot better - hopefully to the point that it will work well for most and then every child can have access to a true quality education that isn't limited by affluence or zip code. That would be a huge win. Big problems often create amazing solutions.

I don't think that there is such a thing as "a true quality education" that's online, for most children.

There isn’t....until there is.

[Anonymous]

Given that teenagers are more like adults when it comes to their ability to contract and spread this disease and given that they are the most able to manage DL, why not keep the HS students on DL And spread the other students throughout the high schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS should focus on making the online learning experience stronger. They should put all the focus on that. Sending the kids back for two days a week is just not responsible while the pandemic is spreading. Once more is known about the virus or a vaccine is available, then go back to full time in the building school. Sending the students back and expecting them to wear masks and social distance is irresponsible.

I'm hopeful that educators will learn a lot about DL from this and it will get a lot better - hopefully to the point that it will work well for most and then every child can have access to a true quality education that isn't limited by affluence or zip code. That would be a huge win. Big problems often create amazing solutions.

I don't think that there is such a thing as "a true quality education" that's online, for most children.

There isn’t....until there is.

And do you really think that MCPS is capable of developing it by fall? Not to mention, there is a real question whether it can be developed for younger kids, or for some subject matters where you need access to equipment even for older kids.

[Anonymous]

It's hard to imagine that keeping kids out of school for this long of a period is even a question. The people supporting this don't seem to care at all how long it takes or how much the children suffer. They seem to forget that not everyone is a privileged kid who is performing 2 years above great level. Many kids have IEPs and 504s and the continued closure of schools will 100% have negative effects on them. Not to mention the vast number of families who are esol and who simply can't navigate DL effectively.

As if our kids education is completely unimportant and instead we need to worry more about mitigating a risk that by and large has been shown to not be the "great risk" people believed it was a few months ago.

These teachers/staff act like we are going to throw them in a room with snakes and daggers and that they will surely die. Is it a risk? Sure. But the risk is being widely blown out of a proportion when it comes to schools.

[Anonymous]

Pp here. My greater point is just:
Why is the only risk acceptable to teachers and other school staff at zero when everyone else is having to accept some level of risk with their jobs? A zero risk situation is likely never to occur or at best won't be possible for years so it seems To be a ridiculous expectation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp here. My greater point is just:
Why is the only risk acceptable to teachers and other school staff at zero when everyone else is having to accept some level of risk with their jobs? A zero risk situation is likely never to occur or at best won't be possible for years so it seems To be a ridiculous expectation.

Very powerful unions who somehow convince lots of people that they fight for the interest of kids, not their members (teachers), unlike every other union on the planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given that teenagers are more like adults when it comes to their ability to contract and spread this disease and given that they are the most able to manage DL, why not keep the HS students on DL And spread the other students throughout the high schools?

You must not have high school students. The isolation is killing them. The mental health issues alone are enough to send them back to school. And when parents go back to work, having thousands of high school kids home alone is not a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given that teenagers are more like adults when it comes to their ability to contract and spread this disease and given that they are the most able to manage DL, why not keep the HS students on DL And spread the other students throughout the high schools?

You must not have high school students. The isolation is killing them. The mental health issues alone are enough to send them back to school. And when parents go back to work, having thousands of high school kids home alone is not a good idea.

Omg, it is not killing most teenagers! Mine and other teens I know think it's hard, like the rest of us do, but they understand that the crisis requires sacrifice and they are willing to make it. We did a bit of reading and talking about other hard times to help all of us gain some perspective - the war years, the great depression, etc. My teens have been able to hang out outside social distancing and they still connect via social media like they did before. My kids understand and frankly, feel proud of their efforts for the greater good, to help keep things safe for their grandparents, sick people, and frontline workers.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know where they’d done enough teachers but making high school remote and spreading the young kids out in every building makes so much sense. HSStidrnrs at great academic risk would be the exception.

And I have a high school sophomore. I know how awful that solution would be but they are most likely to survive it academically.

[Anonymous]

Most kids are pretty tough and flexible, but make no mistake. There are a lot of kids who are suffering emotionally right now. This is a perfect storm of family job loss, insecurity and possible abuse issues in the home. Even for kids not having these issues school can be the only positive thing in their life. I have heard reports from my admin of students basically locking themselves away in their bedrooms and rarely coming out. I believe this is pretty common, I am concerned about student mental health. As a teacher I do want to return to school, but I am concerned about my health and the health of my family as well. I don’t trust the schools and particularly the students to follow the rules at all.

[Anonymous]

When this tread started about a month ago, the county likely still had the opportunity to make some decisions about how open in the fall. It's now 2 months before MCPS is scheduled to start the new year on Aug 31, and I'd wager that shortly after July 14 (when it is scheduled to release its plan) is the latest they can truly commit and have enough time to implement. Which to me means that MCPS has already made a decision and is now just working to present and support it. Yes, I realize it is taking a survey, but that seems like eyewash. The survey should have been out in early May.

Regardless of the merits, it's impossible to see MCPS simply re-opening as usual in the fall. Yes, the COVID-19 situation seems to have been managed decently here, but has deteriorated rapidly elsewhere, and last I checked, we haven't instituted mandatory quarantines for persons traveling into the area from TX, FL, AL, etc. (Conversely, I know many, many families traveling out-of-state for vacation this summer.) I'm no fan of the MCPS administration, but they would be foolhardy to assume the continued improvement necessary to open schools full-time in-person on Aug. 31. We're not even in Phase 3 in MoCo, and I have my doubts that we will get there by the end of summer.

The best the system could accomplish is a hybrid model, but even that is going to be a challenge. I agree with others that creating enough space will require some group of students (HS) to go mostly DL, but the logistics of planning who goes where, including teachers and support personnel (not to mention transportation), is going to be enormous, and to give families enough lead time, you'd want to announce specifics by Aug 14 at the very latest. Which means starting that planning now. Of course, the worse case scenario is full-time DL. I'm sure (hope) that the county can do better than in the spring, but the same equity and access issues aren't going to be better in fall. Given the impact of the pandemic on the economy, they will be more acute.

I hope I'm proven wrong in all of this, and that it will be a great fall. It's just very hard to see that given how little time remains before the new year starts and the trajectory of the pandemic nationally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When this tread started about a month ago, the county likely still had the opportunity to make some decisions about how open in the fall. It's now 2 months before MCPS is scheduled to start the new year on Aug 31, and I'd wager that shortly after July 14 (when it is scheduled to release its plan) is the latest they can truly commit and have enough time to implement. Which to me means that MCPS has already made a decision and is now just working to present and support it. Yes, I realize it is taking a survey, but that seems like eyewash. The survey should have been out in early May.

Regardless of the merits, it's impossible to see MCPS simply re-opening as usual in the fall. Yes, the COVID-19 situation seems to have been managed decently here, but has deteriorated rapidly elsewhere, and last I checked, we haven't instituted mandatory quarantines for persons traveling into the area from TX, FL, AL, etc. (Conversely, I know many, many families traveling out-of-state for vacation this summer.) I'm no fan of the MCPS administration, but they would be foolhardy to assume the continued improvement necessary to open schools full-time in-person on Aug. 31. We're not even in Phase 3 in MoCo, and I have my doubts that we will get there by the end of summer.

The best the system could accomplish is a hybrid model, but even that is going to be a challenge. I agree with others that creating enough space will require some group of students (HS) to go mostly DL, but the logistics of planning who goes where, including teachers and support personnel (not to mention transportation), is going to be enormous, and to give families enough lead time, you'd want to announce specifics by Aug 14 at the very latest. Which means starting that planning now. Of course, the worse case scenario is full-time DL. I'm sure (hope) that the county can do better than in the spring, but the same equity and access issues aren't going to be better in fall. Given the impact of the pandemic on the economy, they will be more acute.

I hope I'm proven wrong in all of this, and that it will be a great fall. It's just very hard to see that given how little time remains before the new year starts and the trajectory of the pandemic nationally.

We have been moving through phases every 1-3 weeks in Moco so far. We are a week into phase 2 with things still being stable/getting better each day. There is no reason we won't be in phase 3 in a week or two when we will still be in early July. That still leaves nearly 2 months before school. Test positivity has been hovering around 6-7% for at least a couple weeks. If that number was down to let's say a 3 or a 4 by mid August it's pretty safe to say things are moving in the right direction.

Again-the goal was never to completely get rid of Covid which most logical people know is not a realistic goal and we have zero control over the virus's longevity. The only thing we have control over is trying to contain/reduce the spread of it. Yet somehow flattening the curve/getting it under control and stable has gone out the window and now it seems school re-opening is 100% dependent on the virus being GONE. I'm not understanding why school administrations/teachers and staff seem to have a new unattainable goal for re-opening that nobody else sees as realistic in the least.