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[quote=Anonymous]We live in a different state in a community that started the school year DL only. As I read some of the "get teachers back at all costs" posts, both the rage at teachers and the "all costs" seem to reflect a lack of understanding of the realities of school decision making and school funding in many public schools across the country. I wish we could remember that this situation is difficult for all of us and that most of us are doing everything we can to make our personal and professional situations work as well as we can. My perspective as the parent of a kid currently in DL and as the spouse of a teacher who is shifting from DL to DL + in person follow.

DH teaches middle school in an affluent community in our county in a district of around 25K students. While the school year started off full DL, teachers were still required to teach from their classrooms. Middle school students will return full time (or can continue to be full distance) during the first couple of weeks of November. Our numbers re the virus are far worse than, for example, Montgomery County.

I'm horrified by the rage I see against teachers. DH and his colleagues have spent so many extra hours changing how they teach, reaching out to individual parents and students, and doing everything they can to provide a great educational experience under the circumstances. They ARE afraid of the potential health risks to having students return en masse (and are encouraged by the recent NY Times articles about in person thus far), but timing of return is completely out of their hands. They will continue to do their best to accommodate DL and as return occurs, the combination of DL and in person. They aren't getting a ton of support from the district and they, like teachers in the DMV area, are the target of a lot of anger (and truly, they have NO say in when students come back).

What does return to in person school look like for teachers, students, and parents? Well, first let's consider the option for 5 days a week instruction OR 5 days a week DL. It sounds like some of you in VA and MD are looking at similar options. While the district is comparatively well-funded, there are no funds for extra teachers or extra support staff. What this means is that teachers will be teaching in person and DL simultaneously. This is an interesting logistical challenge given that no funds have been allocated for additional equipment (we'll get to that in a minute). Fortunately his school does have smart boards, which makes a simultaneous presentation easier. No guidance on best practices has been given to staff other than a suggestion that for a 90 minute class, after 60 minutes the in person students should be told to quietly work at their desks while the teacher fields questions from DL kids. There are no extra staff to help with moving DL students in and out of zoom breakout sessions, so this is also a bit challenging in terms of using time most effectively. I'm also having difficulty imagining a group of 7th graders sitting quietly with no intervention for 30 minutes while the teacher works with DL kids.

If you are in person in DH's district, guidelines are that everyone is masked, but due to lack of extra staff, district deems it acceptable to aim for 3 feet of separation between students. There will be more lunch periods, but students will be inside and together -- winter is cold here. Cleaning: the district provided teachers with Lemon and Pine Quat so that they can clean regularly. As it turned out, these products are dangerous to use without goggles, gloves, etc. No budget for those; district does not yet have a solution. One of the music teachers did create a pretty awesome ode to lemon quat, though.

Let's get back to the simultaneous in person and DL. In addition to staffing challenges, there is no budget for extra equipment. Thus far DH has purchased: 1)industrial strength fan (school is pretty much hermetically sealed. His plan seems to be to set it up to suck air out of classroom. But I think into the hall (this needs more review!). 2) His own plexiglass shield around his desk. 3) His own microphones and speakers for use in the classroom so that students doing DL will be able to hear him and also questions from students that are there in person and vice versa; 4) Many, many cables to accommodate speakers, projectors, and other devices that will need to be re-positioned to make the in person + DL work. 5) And of course, more PPE because the district hasn't committed to providing anything. We are out over $500 so far...this is manageable for him. He's been in the district almost 30 years and our HHI is high enough that this isn't particularly painful and there will be a tax deduction. What about a first year teacher making $32K/year? It's a real problem.

When it comes right down to it, he and his colleagues will make it work and they will do a good job. But as some of you rage against "lazy teachers" please keep in mind that most of them are doing everything they can, often at considerable expense to themselves, to navigate a pretty complex situation with very little support from their districts and in the face of misdirected anger from a vocal minority. None of us has all of the answers, but most are doing our best to make it work.

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