Reply to APS VPL is a dumpster fire

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]APS FOIA office just confirmed: 
* [b]VLP[/b] enrollment is only [u][b]2.7% of student body[/b][/u] as of August 31 (739 of 26,911 students) (4.4% decline in total enrollment since June 2020 and 9.9% under projected enrollment (last done in January 2019))
* VLP enrollment was 3.0% of student body as of August 5 (786 of 26,420 students)

Thus, during the [i][b]absolute height of the "delta surge"[/b][/i], [b]the virtual enrollment shrank[/b] in actual numbers ([i][b]-47[/b][/i]) while almost 500 more students enrolled at APS during the same time period, shrinking [i][b]from 3.0% to 2.7%[/b][/i] of total enrollment.[/quote]

You're forgetting that they were only letting students leave the VLP, no students (except new to APS) were permitted to switch from in-person to VLP.  So the program had no option but to shrink.[/quote]

NOT true at all. If you have a medical reason you are allowed in. This is such a small population regardless. There are not droves of families trying to get into VPL. SO much money for less than 800 kids. Wow.[/quote]

We and a handful of families we know have been trying to get into the virtual program for the better part of the past 8 weeks. We don’t qualify under their medical exemption category, but we have been watching Delta and the situation with children and schools, and we are uncomfortable with sending our child to her in person public school. We selected in person back in May or June or whenever it was, because education is really important to us and we wanted her im school. At the time, we were super optimistic with cases falling and vaccine uptake high. Over the course of watching things develop this summer, we became much less comfortable. If we had to choose now, we would pick virtual. Despite multiple phone calls, and efforts to argue our case, we can’t get in. I suspect, just based on my personal experience and talking with other families who are our friends, that we aren’t alone. We are just trapped now in in person unless we pull entirely to home school.[/quote]

The government can't cater to a "handful" of families' fears, such that they irrationally want their children to be in school online for no medical reason (which has been proven to be an inferior form of education). COVID is less than a flu level risk for healthy children and we don't do such things for the flu.  Those kids with medical risks (i.e., greater than flu level risk) do have the option to go back in.

Virtual Virginia's fall registration window was open until July 15th, which would have been in the 8-week time period you were discussing.  If you really were that scared, you would have sent them to Virtual Virginia.  [/quote]

It was at the beginning of the time our concern grew and well before the public school laid out the full extent of its very basic Covid protocols. My point was simply that it’s not accurate to say no one wants it and enrollment is declining. It was set up in such a way as to make it unattractive and then they are refusing to open it to more students who do want it given today’s conditions. [b]Also, the money is already spent/allocated for it,[/b] so why do you care if my kid uses it? In fact, [b]fewer in person kids would make in person school safer for your kid and less crowded for your kid[/b]. Lastly, [b]it’s not the same as the flu. It’s a once in a 100 year global pandemic.[/b] But again, you are good with in person, so fine, do that. Why do you care if my kid is in a virtual program that theoretically already exists? Now, the question of whether $10 million or whatever dollars spent on it was money well spent if there are no teachers and kids have no classes is a separate issue. I agree that people should be fired if that’s the case.[/quote]

1) The money is not all "already spent."  Most of that money in the ARP chart is for FTE.  With the staffing problems, there's a major lack of FTE and they're paying subs and 3rd party providers on a temporary basis.

2) School is safe.  The science is clear.  Reducing the amount of children in school will just decrease the already extremely tiny risk by a non-significant amount.

3) It's actually much less harmful to healthy children than the flu. And there are vaccines available for anyone over 12 (so this "once in a 100 year pandemic" statement is irrelevant).
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